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

• This will be the second addition to the Indian Navy’s fleet of warships after INS Vishakapatnam’s

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.

What is special about Vela?

• Vela submarine is 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.
• 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.

How did Vela get its name?

• 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.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-ins-vela-submarine-indian-navy-7639778/

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