Explained: What is INS Vela, the submarine commissioned by the Indian Navy?

What is the News?

INS Vela has been commissioned by the Indian Navy.

What is INS Vela?

INS Vela is the fourth submarine in the series of six Scorpene-Class submarines being built under Project-75.

Named After: Vela is named after a type of Indian fish belonging to the stingray family, and the crest depicts the fish swimming across the blue seas. It also carries forward the name of a decommissioned submarine Vela which served the Navy from 1973 to 2010. 

Built by: Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai, under collaboration with M/s Naval Group(earlier DCNS), France. 

Home Base: Vela will be commissioned into the Indian Navy’s western command and will be based in Mumbai.

What are the key features of INS Vela?

Vela is a diesel-electric powered attack submarine designed to act as “sea denial” as well as “access denial” warfare to the adversary.

The submarine can engage in offensive operations across the entire spectrum of naval warfare, including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying and area surveillance.

The submarine is also equipped with C303 anti-torpedo countermeasure system and can carry up to 18 torpedoes or Exocet anti-ship missiles or 30 mines in place of torpedoes.

Significance of Induction of INS Vela

With this induction, the Navy currently has 16 conventional and one nuclear submarine in service. It includes eight Russian Kilo-class submarines, four German HDW submarines, four French Scorpene submarines and the indigenous nuclear ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant.

Source: This post is based on the following articles

• “What is INS Vela, the submarine commissioned by the Indian Navy?” published in Indian Express on 26th November 2021
• “Scorpene class submarine INS Vela joins Navy” published in The Hindu on 26th November 2021.
• “FOURTH SUBMARINE OF PROJECT-75 ‘INS VELA’ COMMISSIONED AT NAVAL DOCKYARD, MUMBAI” published in PIB on 25th November 2021.