The Kilo Class diesel electric submarine INS Sindhudhwaj was decommissioned on Sunday, significantly reducing the Indian Navy’s already small submarine force. For 35 years, INS Sindhudhwaj served the Indian Navy. It was put into service after the Soviet Union sold it to the Indian Navy in 1987 as part of an agreement to buy 10 Kilo Class diesel-electric submarines.
A total of 16 submarines, including one nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and seven Kilo Class submarines, are currently active in the Indian Navy. As they reach the end of their service life, all submarines in the Kilo Class will be retired during the next years.
In addition to the seven Kilo Class submarines, there are four Scorpene or Kalvari Class submarines of French origin named INS Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj, and Vela and four Shishumar Class submarines of German origin named INS Shishumar, Shankush, Shalki, and Shankul.
By 2023, it is anticipated that two additional Scorpene class submarines would be put into service. The Navy currently operates one ballistic missile submarine of the Arihant class, and another, the INS Arighat, is in development; however, it is unknown when it will be finished.
Project 75I, for which government approval had been given in 2020, called for the construction of six attack submarines in India, but nothing has materialised because of problems with suppliers meeting the project’s high standards. According to the most recent sources, the government has extended the deadline for responses to the Request for Proposals for the Rs. 40,000 crore project till the end of this year.
The US Department of Defense estimates that China has 46 diesel-powered assault submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines, and six ballistic missile submarines. Through this decade, it is anticipated that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) would maintain an operating strength of 60–70 submarines.
Three Agosta 90B Air Independent Propulsion submarines and two diesel-electric Agosta 70 class submarines, all of French design, are operated by the Pakistan Navy. It also possesses three Italian-made midget-class submarines.
Eight Hangor Class submarines will be supplied by Pakistan to China under a contract that will see four of them built in China and four at the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works. These submarines will be delivered starting in 2023 and ending in 2028.
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