Context: Indian Navy Ship(INS) Arnala was launched at Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T’s) Kattupalli shipyard near Chennai.

• Apart from above recently, the fifth Scorpène-class conventional submarine, Vagir was delivered to the Navy by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited(MDL).

INS Arnala

• INS Arnala is the first of the eight indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare shallow watercraft (ASW-SWC).

• Purpose: It is designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters and low-intensity maritime operations, including subsurface surveillance in littoral waters.

• Built by: Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE)

• Named after: The ship has been named ‘Arnala’ to signify the strategic maritime importance accorded to the island of Arnala, located about 13 kilometers north of Vasai, Maharashtra by Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

• Replaces: Arnala class of ships will replace the Abhay class ASW Ships of the Indian Navy.

• Features: The ships have a displacement of 900 tonnes with a maximum speed of 25 knots and endurance of 1800 nautical miles(NM).

• It will also have over 80% indigenous content, ensuring that large-scale defence production is executed by Indian manufacturing units.

What is INS Vagir?

• INS Vagir is the fifth submarine under Project 75 for the Indian Navy.

What is Project – 75?

• Project – 75 includes the construction of six submarines of Scorpene design. 

• Built by: These submarines are being built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai, under collaboration with M/s Naval Group, France.

• Six submarines: The first submarine INS  Kalvari was commissioned in 2017, second submarine INS  Khanderi in 2019, third one INS  Karanj in 2021 and the fourth one INS  Vela joined service in 2021.

• The sixth Scorpène-class submarine, Vagsheer, was launched in April 2022 and is expected to be delivered to the Navy by end 2023.

• Features: This class of submarines have Diesel Electric transmission systems and are attack submarines also known as the ‘hunter-killer’ type, which means they are designed to target and sink adversary naval vessels.

• They also have the capability of operating in a wide range of Naval combat including anti-warship and anti-submarine operations, intelligence gathering and surveillance and naval mine laying.

• The submarines can reach the highest speeds of 11 knots when surfaced and 20 knots when submerged.

How many submarines does the Indian Navy have currently?

• The Navy currently has 15 conventional and one nuclear submarine in service. It includes seven Russian Kilo class submarines, four German HDW submarines, four Scorpene class submarines and the indigenous nuclear ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant.