Defence Minister Rajnath Singh undertook a sea sortie on a Scorpene class submarine ‘INS Khanderi’ at Karwar during which he witnessed a wide range of operational drills with the submarine demonstrating the advanced sensor suite, combat system and weapon capability which provides it a distinct advantage in the subsurface domain, the Navy said.
“The Defence Minister was given a first-hand insight into the combat capabilities and offensive strength of the state-of-the-art Kalvari class submarine. For over four hours, the full spectrum of capabilities of underwater operations of the stealth submarine was demonstrated...,” the Navy said in a statement on Friday. The day-at-sea also provided him a glimpse of the submarine’s capability to effectively counter anti-submarine operations by an adversary, it stated.
On India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’ which is scheduled to be commissioned very soon, Mr. Singh said it will bolster the maritime security of the country, along with INS Vikramaditya. He, however, assured that the preparations being made by the Indian Navy are not a provocation to any aggression, but a guarantee of peace and security in the Indian Ocean region, the Navy quoted him as having said.
“Today, Indian Navy is counted among the frontline navies of the world. Today, the world’s largest maritime forces are ready to work and cooperate with India,” Mr. Singh stated.
The operational sortie was accompanied by the deployment of ships of the Western Fleet, an anti-submarine mission sortie by a P-8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and Sea King helicopter, a fly past by MiG-29K fighters and a search and rescue capability demonstration.
With this, the Mr. Singh has now witnessed first-hand the “three-dimensional combat capability of Indian Navy”, after having embarked INS Vikramaditya in September 2019 and conducted a sortie on the P-8I MPA earlier this month, the statement noted.
The second of the Project-75 submarines built at Mazagon Docks Limited, Mumbai, INS Khanderi was commissioned on September 28, 2019. The Navy currently operates four submarines of this class with two more likely to be inducted by end next year, the Navy added.
