India to Induct Second Scorpene Attack Sub on September 28

The Indian navy is likely to induct INS Khanderi, the second Scorpene submarine on September 28, squashing earlier reports that said 36 defects found in the boat could push its commissioning date by one year.

“Indian defense minister Rajnath Singh and naval chief Admiral Karambir Singh will attend the September 28 ceremony in Mumbai, being held to commission the INS Khanderi,” a navy official was quoted as saying by local media.

In June, the Indian Navy reportedly discovered 35 defects along with one "killer" defect- which is emission of an unduly high level of noise, in the "INS Khanderi" during its sea trials. It was speculated that this would push the commissioning of the submersible by nearly one year.

29 of those issues require to be tested when the sea is absolutely calm. Four other defects require the submarine be docked in a navy dockyard for testing. This runs up against an existing docking schedule that dockyards have already issued, involving numerous other warships, the reports said.

The contract for the licensed production of six Scorpene-class submarines for $3.75 billion was signed in October 2005 under Project 75. The entire project is expected to be completed by 2020. The first boat was inducted in December 2017.

Stealth features of the Scorpene submarines include advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimized shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision-guided weapons. They can undertake multifarious types of missions such as anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, area surveillance etc.