The Indian Navy launched INS Karanj, the third Scorpene-class submarine, at Mumbai's Mazagon docks in the presence of Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Wednesday.
Speaking on the ocassion, Admiral Lanba said that the launch of INS Karanj marked a significant departure from the manning and training philosophy that was adopted for the first two submarines, adding that from the present vessel onwards, the Navy would be fully self-reliant in the training and certification processes.
The previous INS Karanj had served the nation for 34 years from 1969 to 2003 and had also participated in the 1971 war, he added.
The submarine has an overall length of 67.5 metre and a height of about 12.3 metres. The hull form, fin and hydroplanes are specifically designed to produce minimum underwater resistance.
The state-of- the-art technology utilised for construction of the Scorpene-class submarines has ensured superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimised shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons.
The submarine is designed to operate in all theatres, with means provided to ensure interoperability with other components of a Naval Task Force. It is a potent platform, marking a generational shift in submarine operations.
In December last year, INS Kalvari, the first Scorpene-class submarine was commissioned into the Indian Navy. Equipped with cutting edge technology, the submarine is compared to favourably with the best in the world.
The second in the series of six submarine project, INS Khanderi was launched at MDL on January 12 2017, and is currently undergoing the rigorous phase of sea trials and is also scheduled to be delivered later this year.
