Navy gets escape training facility for Kalvari-class submarines
Vagsheer, the navy’s sixth and last Kalvari-class submarine built in India with French help, is expected to be commissioned into service soon
The Indian Navy on Friday commissioned a submarine escape training facility, called Vinetra, at INS Satavahana in Visakhapatnam to prepare crews to respond swiftly if a Kalvari-class boat is in distress.
“The facility will ensure that crews are equipped with the skills necessary to escape in case of any underwater emergency,” the navy said in a statement on Saturday. It was commissioned by Eastern Naval Command chief Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar.
The navy has similar facilities to train crews for its Kilo-class and Shishumar-class submarines at INS Satavahana, India’s premier submarine training establishment commissioned in December 1974.
L&T Defence has built the new facility in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative to boost self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector, the navy said. It is equipped with a five-metre escape tower integrated with a diving basin and will be utilised for imparting both basic and refresher escape training to the crew of Kalvari-class submarines to ensure they are proficient in escape procedures, it added.
Vagsheer, the navy’s sixth and last Kalvari-class submarine built in India with French help, is expected to be commissioned into service soon.
The Kalvari-class diesel-electric attack submarines have been constructed at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, with technology transfer from French firm Naval Group under a ₹23,562-crore programme called Project 75.
The submarines are capable of various missions such as anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, long-range strikes, special operations and intelligence gathering.