India's newest and most sophisticated diesel electric-submarines -- INS Kalvari (S50) and INS Khanderi (S51) -- will both be commissioned into the Indian Navy with the year.

Both stealth boats are among the six members of the Kalvari-class being built in India. The Kalvari-class is based on the French Scorpène-class boats. It was designed by French naval defense and energy company DCNS and is being manufactured by Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL) in Mumbai under Project 75.              

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INS Kalvari will be commissioned in either July or August. The commissioning of the INS Khanderi is scheduled for December.

INS Khanderi was launched on Jan.12, and is undergoing rigorous tests and trials at harbor and at sea, both surfaced and submerged.

The four other boats in the Kalvari-class are INS Vela (S52), which is to be launched this October and three other boats without formal names: S53, S54 and S55. INS Vela and the three other boats are all under construction.

All boats in the Kalvari-class are hunter killer submarines designed to destroy enemy submarines and warships. They come armed with 18 heavyweight torpedoes or Varunastra torpedoes or SM.39 submarine-launched Exocet anti-ship missiles and 30 mines in place of torpedoes.

They have a speed of 37 km/h submerged; can dive to 350 meters and have a surfaced range of 12,000 km.

INS Kalvari is going through its final phase of trials and "we are hopeful that in July-August we will take delivery," said Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy.

Kalvari test-fired a torpedo last May 27 and navy sources said it was the last major test before the submarine joins the navy. Last March, Kalvari test-fired an unspecified Made in India anti-ship missile for the first time.

TagsIndia, INS Kalvari (S50), Indian Navy, Scorpène-class, hunter-killer submarine, INS Khanderi (S51), Kalvari-class