INS Vela

Subject – Defence and Security

Context – Vela, the fourth submarine of P75 of the Indian Navy, was Thursday commissioned by Navy.

Concept –

What is Project 75?

Conceptualised for the acquisition for 25 submarines at the time of the IK Gujral government, P 75 evolved into a 30-year plan for building submarines.
In 2005, India and France signed a $ 3.75 billion contract for building six Scorpene class submarines.
The executing company on the Indian side is Mazgaon Docks Ltd, and on the French side, it is DCNS, which is now called Naval Group.
The project has been dogged by delays and questions over the reluctance of the French government to act on the commitment for “transfer of technology” that was an integral part of the contract.
As a result, the first of the six subs, INS Kalvari, was commissioned five years behind schedule, in 2017.

What has been the progress so far?

After Kalvari, two more submarines under the contract, INS Khanderi and INS Karanj, were commissioned.
Vela is the fourth, and sea trials are ongoing for Vagir, while the sixth, Vagsheer, is under construction.
- Vela is named after a decommissioned submarine Vela, which served the Navy from 1973 to 2010. The earlier Vela belonged to Foxtrot class submarine of Soviet origin.