Indian Navy finds defects in Scorpene submarine; one more year of delay Project-75, which involves building six Scorpene submarines in Mazagon Dock (MDL), Mumbai, had already been running five years late by the time the first one, INS Kalvari, was commissioned on December 14, 2017. With the navy reporting a host of problems in the second vessel, INS Khanderi, the project has now slipped by at least one more year. The Indian Navy discovered during the Khanderi’s sea trials was a killer defect for a submarine: Its engines and propellers were emitting an unduly high level of noise. A submarine’s effectiveness in battle, and its very survival, depends upon it remaining undetected. Enemy sonar detectors — mounted on aircraft, warships and submarines — search relentlessly for sounds emitted by enemy submarines. Once detected, a submarine is easy meat for enemy depth charges or torpedoes. The Khanderi’s noisiness is not its only problem; the Indian navy has pointed out 35 other defects and has demanded they be rectified before it commissions the vessel. Nor can these problems be addressed quickly, since 29 of them require to be tested when the sea is absolutely calm — or in what is termed “Sea State — 1”. With the monsoon imminent, calm seas are unlikely before September. Another four issues 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. Meanwhile, the third Project-75 submarine, INS Karanj, has just begun trials. It is unclear whether there will be as many problems as with the Khanderi. The Indian Navy and MDL both declined to comment on the matter. However, neither of the two denied the existence of numerous defects in the Khanderi. Project 75 kicked off in 2005, when the navy signed a Rs 18,798 crore ($2,7B) contract for MDL to build six conventional submarines, with technology transferred by Franco-Spanish consortium Armaris. All six Scorpenes were to be delivered between 2012-2015, but the sixth will only be delivered now by 2022. #Indiannavy #Scorpene #submarine #navalgroup #MazagonDock #mumbai #Project75 #navy #navalnews https://www.instagram.com/p/ByuQyUzpi1j/?igshid=1a8212a0vmddw