INS Vela (S24)

For other ships with the same name, see INS Vela.

INS Vela (S24) during its commissioning ceremony
History
India
NameINS Vela
NamesakeVela (S40)
Ordered2005
BuilderMazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai
Launched6 May 2019[1]
Acquired9 November 2021[2]
Commissioned25 November 2021 [3]
IdentificationPennant number: S24
MottoVigilant, Valiant, Victorious
StatusIn Service [4]
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeKalvari-class submarine
Displacement
  • Surfaced: 1,615 tonnes (1,780 short tons)
  • Submerged: 1,775 tonnes (1,957 short tons)[5]
Length67.5 m (221 ft)[6]
Beam6.2 m (20 ft)[7]
Height12.3 m (40 ft)[6]
Draught5.8 m (19 ft)[7]
Propulsion
Speed
  • Surfaced: 11 kn (20 km/h)
  • Submerged: 20 kn (37 km/h)[7]
Range
  • 6,500 nmi (12,000 km) at 8 kn (15 km/h) (surfaced)
  • 550 nmi (1,020 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) (submerged)[8]
Endurance50 days[9]
Test depth350 metres (1,150 ft) [10]
Complement
  • 8 officers
  • 35 sailors[11]
Electronic warfare
& decoys		C303/S anti-torpedo countermeasure system[12]
Armament

INS Vela (S24) is the fourth submarine of the first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine based on the Scorpène class, designed by French naval defence and energy group DCNS and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited, an Indian shipyard in Mumbai. The first cutting of steel for the submarine began on 14 July 2009,[15] and the ship was launched on 6 May 2019.[1][16]

The submarine was delivered to Indian Navy on 9 November 2021,[2] and formally commissioned into the service by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh on 25 November.[4]

The submarine inherits its name from INS Vela (S40) which served in the Navy from 1973 to 2010, and was the lead ship of the Vela-class. The crew of the INS Vela (S40) was present at the commissioning ceremony of the INS Vela (S24).[17] Vela is the name of an Indian fish from the stingray species known for its aggression and offensive power, and the ability to camouflage itself from predators.[18] The submarine's crest depicts the stingray swimming across the blue seas.[15] The ship's mascot is a sub-ray, a portmanteau of submarine and stingray.[18] The mascot symbolises the "metamorphosis of the submarine’s character with the qualities of a stingray".[15]

  1. ^ a b "INS Vela: Indian Navy's 4th Scorpene-class made in India submarine launched". Financial Express. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b "MDL delivers 4th Scorpene Submarine 'Vela' to Indian Navy". Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  3. ^ NewsX [@NewsX] (24 November 2021). "#BreakingNews | INS Vela, the fourth Scorpene-class submarine, commissioned into the Indian Navy, in the presence of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, at the naval dockyard in Mumbai. (Image Credit: ANI) https://t.co/N4T00FLkBC" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ a b "Navy commissions submarine INS Vela". Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  5. ^ Bedi, Rahul (14 December 2017). "Indian Navy commissions first licence-built Scorpène-class submarine". Jane's Defence Weekly. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "Curtain Raiser : Kalvari to be Commissioned Tomorrow at Mumbai". pib.nic.in. 13 December 2017. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d Rahmat, Ridzwan (7 June 2017). "India's second Scorpène submarine begins sea trials". Jane's Defence Weekly. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017.
  8. ^ Commodore Stephen Saunders, ed. (2005). "India". Jane's Fighting Ships 2005-2006 (108th ed.). Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group. p. 308. ISBN 0710626924.
  9. ^ "India, France to ink Scorpene deal". The Times of India. PTI. 27 September 2005. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Scorpene 1000". DCNS. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Road to development in the 21st century goes through the Indian ocean – Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister". pib.nic.in. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  12. ^ Bedi, Rahul (31 January 2018). "India launches third Scorpène-class submarine". Jane's Defence Weekly. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018.
  13. ^ Bonsignore, Luca (2005). ""Carrera": The first real Spanish export-submarine floated". Naval Forces. Vol. 26, no. 1. Aldershot: Monch Publications. p. 135. ISSN 0722-8880. 18 torpedoes and missiles can be carried otherwise 30 mines.
  14. ^ Dominguez, Gabriel (22 September 2017). "MDL delivers first of six Scorpène-class submarines to Indian Navy". Jane's Defence Weekly. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017.
  15. ^ a b c Peri, Dinakar (25 November 2021). "Fourth Scorpene class submarine INS Vela joins Navy". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  16. ^ ANI [@ANI] (6 May 2019). "Indian Navy's fourth stealth Scorpene class Submarine Vela of Project 75 has been launched today at the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in Mumbai. https://t.co/FfMoiJrYDg" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 13 June 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2021 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Submarine INS Vela commissioned; Navy chief calls it 'potent platform'". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 25 November 2021. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  18. ^ a b Siddiqui, Huma (25 November 2021). "Indian Navy gets new deadly submarine! INS Vela gets commissioned". The Financial Express. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.