Mumbai : Five days after commissioning guided-missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam, the Indian Navy on Thursday commissioned INS Vela, the fourth Scorpene-class submarine, in Mumbai.
This is the fourth of the Project 75 Submarine built by Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony of INS Vela, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh said – “INS Vela has the ability to undertake an entire spectrum of submarine operations. Given today’s dynamic and complex security situation, its capability and firepower will play a crucial role in enhancing the Navy’s ability to protect India’s maritime interests.”
Singh said that Project 75, under which the Scorpene-class submarines are being built in India, represents the growing strategic congruence between India and France and added that the commissioning of Vela marks the halfway mark of Project 75, which will see a total of six Scorpene-class submarines inducted into the Indian Navy.
According to a twit by Indian Navy, the erstwhile INSVela was commissioned on 31 Jul 1973 & served for 37 glorious years. INS Vela, in its new avatar is expected to carry forward the legacy.