NEW DELHI: The first of the Scorpene class submarines, Kalvari , was delivered to the Indian Navy by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) on Thursday. The submarine will soon be commissioned into the Indian Navy.Similarly, other Scorpene class submarines Khanderi and Karanj are undergoing trials and development. These developments can be seen as a significant step made towards modernising India’s ageing submarine fleet in the backdrop of China beefing up its naval strength and making forays into the Indian Ocean Region.MDL in a statement issued on Thursday stated, “History was written at MDL on September 21, 2017 with the delivery of the first Scorpene submarine, Kalvari, to the Indian Navy. Post delivery, the submarine would soon be commissioned into the navy.”The delivery of a submarine means that its trials are over and the navy has accepted the boat. Commissioning is a ceremony that officially makes it part of the navy’s fleet. ET had earlier reported that Kalvari’s delivery is to take place around mid-September.Kalvari which is named after the dreaded Tiger Shark is equipped with state of the art technology, including superior stealth features such as “advanced acoustic silencing techniques”, low radiated noise and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons.“The attack can be launched with both torpedoes and tube launched anti-ship missiles, while underwater or from surface,” says MDL.Marking a “generational shift” in submarine operations, Scorpene submarines can undertake varied missions such as anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering and mine laying.MDL officials explain that with the delivery of Kalvari, the firm has mastered the art of building advanced submarines. Hereafter, the second of the Scorpenes under construction at MDL, Khanderi, is currently undergoing the rigorous phase of sea trials. It was launched in January 2017. The third Scorpene, Karanj, is being readied for launch later this year. “The balance submarines are in various stages of outfitting,” says a top MDL official.The contract for the construction and Transfer of Technology for six Scorpene submarines in series was signed between French defence major, Naval Group, and MDL in October 2005. This ongoing programme is called Project-75 and is part of a ‘30-Year Plan for Indigenous Submarine Construction’ approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security in 1999. The plan was to develop two production lines on which six submarines each- named Project 75 and Project 75 (I)- would be built with foreign submarine makers. Further as part of the plan the navy meanwhile would develop its own indigenous design to produce 12 more conventional submarines. So by 2030, the navy would have 24 modern submarines. The plan was later amended to include nuclear submarines.The submarines (under the two Projects) would form core of the navy’s submarine arm in the coming decades and with nuclear submarines also in the pipeline this will give India the much needed deterrence in the Indian Ocean Region, especially at a time when China’s submarine strength is way more than that of India.