The 6th and last of the French Scorpene-class submarines, INS Vagsheer (Yard 11880), was launched into water on April 20 at the Mazagon Docks in Mumbai.
Salient features
- INS Vagsheer was launched by Veena Ajay Kumar, in keeping with the naval tradition of launch and naming by a woman.
- The six submarines were being built under Project-75 by the Mazagon Docks under technology transfer from the Naval Group as part of a $3.75-billion deal signed in October 2005.
- INS Kalvari was commissioned in December 2017; INS Khanderi in September 2019; INS Vagir in November 2020; INS Karanjin March 2021; and INS Vela in November 2021. INS Vagir is undergoing sea trials now.
- The Navy has drawn up plans to install an air independent propulsion (AIP) module on all the Scorpenes.
- Development of an indigenous AIP module by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is in advanced stages. The Navy has a 30-year submarine-building programme and after the P-75I, it intends to design and build conventional submarines indigenously.
Air-independent propulsion (AIP)
- Air-independent propulsion (AIP), or air-independent power, is marine propulsion technology that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen (by surfacing or using a snorkel).
- AIP can augment or replace the diesel-electric propulsion system of non-nuclear vessels.
- The indigenous AIP propulsion system developed by DRDO is a modular system that can be easily configured for any conventional submarine platform.
- Legacy diesel-electric submarines operate silently underwater for up to 48 hours, but they have to surface within restricted hours to run a generator that recharges their batteries.
- These diesel-electric submarines, when they surface, become vulnerable to detection by enemy radar, which easily detect submarine masts or snorkels jutting on the surface of the water.
- This vulnerability can be reduced by powering a submarine with an AIP system, that enables underwater operations for up to two weeks. However, AIP-fitted submarines too surface every fortnight for battery charging. But that still makes them difficult to detect as nuclear-powered subs, which can stay submerged indefinitely.
- Fuel cell technology-based AIP generates power through the reverse electrolysis of oxygen and hydrogen. In this process, the two elements chemically combine, thereby generating electricity to charge the submarine’s batteries.
- This process does not need air rather it requires the storage of highly inflammable hydrogen on board. This is not true of the DRDO’s AIP system, which relies on the innovative Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell technology.
- The process of Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell technology is more rugged and tolerant of fuel impurities, offering longer life and efficiency.
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