Submarine Vagsheer and its features, capabilities
- Category
Science & Technology
- Published
4th May, 2022
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Context
Vagsheer, the sixth submarine of the P75 project of the Indian Navy was launched recently.
About
About Submarine ‘Vagsheer’:
- Vagsheer is named after the sand fish, a deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean.
- The first submarine Vagsheer, from Russia, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on December 26, 1974, and was decommissioned on April 30, 1997.
- The new Vagsheer will be officially named at the time of its commissioning.
- Specifications:
- Vagsheer can take up to eight officers and 35 men.
- It is 67.5 metres long and 12.3 metres high, with a beam measuring 6.2 metres.
- Vagsheer can reach top speed of 20 knots when submerged and a top speed of 11 knots when it surfaces.
- The hull, fin and hydroplanes are designed for minimum underwater resistance and all equipment inside the pressure hull is mounted on shock-absorbing cradles for enhanced stealth.
- Features:
- Vagsheer is a diesel attack submarine, designed to perform sea denial as well as access denial warfare against the adversary.
- It can do offensive operations across the spectrum of naval warfare including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying and area surveillance.
- It is enabled with a C303 anti-torpedo counter measure system.
- It can carry up to 18 torpedoes or Exocet anti-ship missiles, or 30 mines in place of torpedoes.
- Its superior stealth features include advanced acoustic absorption techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimised shape, and it has the ability to launch a crippling attack using precision guided weapons, underwater or on surface.
- Scorpene submarines can undertake various types of missions such as anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, area surveillance etc.
List of other submarines under Scorpene-class submarines:
- First submarine: INS Kalvari- commissioned on 14 December 2017.
- Second: INS Khanderi – September 2019
- Third: INS Karanj – March 2021
- Fourth: INS Vela – November 2021
- Fifth: INS Vagir- launched in November 2020 and is undergoing sea trials.
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Project 75 India (P-75I)
- P75I was first cleared in 2007, but lay dormant until now after undergoing numerous changes.
- The P75I project is part of a 30-year submarine building plan that ends in 2030.
- The project cost is about Rs. 45,000 crore.
- As part of this plan, India was to build 24 submarines — 18 conventional submarines and six nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) — as an effective deterrent against China and Pakistan.
- This project envisages the construction of six conventional submarines with better sensors and weapons and the Air Independent Propulsion System (AIP).
- The project has been cleared under the strategic partnership model.
- Under P75, INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj and INS Vela have been commissioned. Sea trials are on for Vagir. Vagsheer is the sixth; its production was delayed due to the pandemic.
Scorpene Class Submarine:
- These are diesel-electric attack submarines jointly developed by the French company - Naval Group (formerly Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS)) and the Spanish company - Navantia.
- These submarines can undertake multifarious tasks typically undertaken by any modern submarine which include anti-surface as well as anti-submarine warfare.
- They feature diesel propulsion and additional Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP).
- AIP is a marine propulsion technology that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen (by surfacing or using a snorkel).
- The system of AIP fitted in this class of submarines is a modified version of nuclear propulsion system with heat being generated by ethanol and oxygen.
- The combustion of the ethanol and stored oxygen, at a pressure of 60 atm, generates steam which powers a conventional turbine power plant.
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