Indian Navy Commissions Water Jet Fast Attack Craft, INS TARASA and INS Kalavari

INS Tarasa (T94) , a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft was commissioned into the Indian Navy and India՚s first ingenuously built INS Kalavari submarine was handed over to Indian Navy by state-owned Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.

Water Jet Fast Attack Craft

INS Tarasa

INS Tarasa (T94) , a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft was commissioned into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.

  • Ship is of proven design, has good endurance, low draught, high speed and maneuverability with primary role of extended coastal and offshore surveillance and patrol.
  • INS Tarasa is the fourth and last of the follow-on Water Jet FAC՚s built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) , Kolkata.
  • 50 m long ship, with three waterjets giving it speeds of over 35 knots (65 kmph) .
  • Armed with a 30 mm indigenous main gun, and number of light, medium, and heavy machine guns for costal defence.
  • Ideal for coastal and offshore surveillance, EEZ Patrol, law enforcement, as well as non-military missions such as search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
  • Second ship of the Indian Navy to be named INS Tarasa- first INS Tarasa in service from 1999 to 2014 was gifted to Seychelles Coast Guard as a symbol of India՚s partnership.

What Are Water Jet Fast Attack Crafts?

  • WJFACs are suited and used for interception of fast-moving surface craft.
  • INS Tarasa is fourth and last of follow-on WJFAC՚s indigenously built GRSE, Kolkata- The first two ships of the class Tarmugli and Tihayu were commissioned in 2016 and are based at Visakhapatnam, while the third ship INS Tillanchang was commissioned earlier this year at Karwar.
  • These ships are an upgrade of the Car Nicobar class Fast Attack Crafts also indigenously designed and built by GRSE, Kolkata.

INS Kalavari: India՚s First Indigenous Submarine

  • Ingenuously built by state-owned Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
  • First new conventional submarine in two decades.
  • Strategically important for India to build its underwater warfare capabilities due to aggressive stance of China and Pakistan.
  • The submarine was in news due to Scorpene data leak from France

Details on INS Kalavari

  • First of six Scorpion class submarines to be built in India under Project-75 by Mazagon Docks Limited with technology transfer from France՚s DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales Services)
  • Diesel electric attack submarine named after tiger shark.
  • Stealth submarine difficult to be detected and designed to operate in all conditions including the tropics.
  • Weighs 1,550 tonnes and its six 533-millimeter torpedo tubes can launch anti-ship torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, and sea mines.
  • Designed for operations like multifarious warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, area surveillance etc.
  • Ability to attack using precision guided weapons and underwater or from surface.

Scorpion Class Submarines

  • France՚s DCNS awarded $ 4.16 billion contract to build six next generation Scorpion class submarines in cooperation with Mazagon Docks Limited under the strategic Project-75.
  • All six submarines will have indigenous Air Independent Propulsion System (AIP) technology developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to extend their endurance- enables the sub to remain underwater for longer duration, greatly increasing stealth characteristics.
  • Second submarine in the series, INS Khanderi was clouded by the Scorpene Data Leak which threatened to derail project in August 2016.

Scorpene Data Leak

  • 22,400 documents exposed secret stealth capabilities of Indian submarines, their diving depths and of torpedo launch system specifications.
  • Leak took place at the French office of DCNS.

Examrace Team at Aug 22, 2021