Navy successfully fires anti-ship missile from submarine

The Indian Navy on Thursday, successfully conducted the maiden firing of an anti-ship missile from the indigenously built Kalvari class submarines, during a test firing in the Arabian Sea.

The weapon was fired from the submarine, the first of India's six Scorpene-class submarines which are being built under the Project 75, and it "successfully hit" a surface target during the trial in the Arabian Sea.

The missile successfully hit a surface target at extended ranges during the trial firing, held on Wednesday morning.

This missile launch is a significant milestone, not only for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene class submarines being built in India, but also in enhancing the Indian Navy's sub-surface warfare capability, the Navy said in a release.

All the six diesel-electric attack submarines will be equipped with the anti-ship missile, which has a proven record in combat, the defence ministry said, noting these missiles will provide the vessels the ability to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges.

Six Scorpene submarines are being built under P-75 by Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) with technology transfer from France. All the submarines will be equipped with this anti-ship missile.

The lead boat of the new class of attack submarines, the INS Kalvari, is expected to be commissioned this summer. The second Kalvari-class sub, the INS Khanderi, was launched in January of this year and is expected to be delivered to the Indian Navy by the end of 2017. The remaining four boats are all slated for delivery by 2020 at an interval of nine months.