INS Sindhudhwaj
decommissioned after 35 years
of service in the Indian Navy
In July 2022, the Indian Navy decommissioned the 'kilo class submarine' INS Sindhudhwaj from service at Visakhapatnam after being in service for 35 years. It was inducted into the Indian Navy in June 1987. It was one of the 10 'kilo class submarines' that India bought from Russia (including the former Soviet Union) between 1986 and 2000.
This submarine is credited for the fact that it did many things for the first time, such as indigenous sonar
USHUS, indigenous satellite communication system Rukmani and MSS, inertial navigation system and indigenous torpedo fire control system were operated on it.
Sindhudhwaj had also successfullyncarried out the work of Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel and
Personnel Transfer. It was the only submarine to be awarded the Rolling Trophy for Innovation by the Prime Minister.
Current Scenario
The Indian Navy's fleet now comprises seven Russian Kilo class submarines, four German HDW submarines, four French Scorpene submarines and the indigenous
nuclear ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant. Also the last two submarines of the Scorpene class are in various stages of testing and outfitting.
The construction work of six upgraded submarines under Project-75I is in progress but it is getting delayed. Project-75I envisages indigenous construction
of submarines equipped with state- of-the-art Air Independent Propulsion Systems at an estimated
cost of Rs 43,000 crore.