In a bid to bolster its steadily depleting underwater fleet, the Indian Navy is set to send one of its Sindhughosh-class submarines — INS Sindhuvijay — for a mid-life refit at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in Visakhapatnam in the coming months. Commissioned in 1991, the submarine is the fourth in the Sindhughosh-class series — INS Sindhuvijay — the Indian variants of the Russian Kilo-class boats.
The name Sindhuvijay, derived from Sanskrit and meaning “Conqueror of the Sea”, reflects its formidable capabilities as a diesel-electric attack submarine.
The vessel last underwent an extensive overhaul at Russia’s Zvezdochka Shipyard in 2005.
Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) : Recent success at HSL
The Visakhapatnam-based shipyard recently demonstrated its submarine refit capabilities by completing INS Sindhukirti’s refit on July 21, which included significant upgrades such as modifications for DSRV (deep-submergence rescue vehicle) integration – a first for an Indian shipyard.
HSL completed the INS Sindhukirti project four months ahead of schedule, having entered dry dock in January 2023 for what was planned as a 22-month refit. The project, valued at Rs 934 crore, involved extensive hull maintenance, propulsion system modernization, and advanced systems integration.
“The acceptance of necessity (AoN) has already been granted from the Ministry of Defence. Work is currently underway to finalise the refit contract, which is expected to be concluded in the coming weeks.”
Sources further added that if everything goes as per the plan the submarine would be docked at HSL for the refitting at the end of this year.
Upon the completion of the refit, the Sindhvijay boat will be battle-ready and enhance the Indian Navy’s operational readiness.
Recognizing the urgent need to maintain its sub-surface fleet, a source said that the refitting will be done to ensure that the boats remain operational, safe, and technologically relevant. The process includes repairing hull damage, overhauling machinery, upgrading sensors and weapons systems, and extending the submarine’s service life to maintain combat readiness and counter evolving threats.
It must be noted that the HSL handed over the third of Sindhughosh-class series submarine – INS Sindhukirti to the Indian Navy in August this year after a comprehensive overhauling and refitting of the boat.
All you need to know about INS Sindhuvijay
A Sindhughosh-class boat, INS Sindhuvijay has a displacement of 2,325-tonne surfaced and 3,076-tonne of submerged with a length of 72-74-meter, having beam of around 10-meter and draught of 6.6-meter.
Having a speed of 10–11-kn surfaced and 17–19-kn submerged, INS Sindhuvijay has a range of 6,000 at 7-kn (surfaced/snorkeling) and 400 mi at 3-kn (submerged). She has a maximum diving depth of 300-meter.
When she went for the overhauling last time in Russia in 2005, INS Sindhuvijay was upgraded to fire the Russian Klub-class of Cruise missiles (Klub-S Land Attack Cruise Missile) from her torpedo tubes.
It has a capability of carrying six 533-mm torpedo tubes and upto 18 torpedoes of types E53 777, E53 60, E53 85, and E53 67. It can also be loaded with up to 24 naval mines instead of torpedoes.
The boat was also upgraded with an indigenously developed Sonar and communication system among others.
It carries 53 personnel, including about 12–13 officers and has the capability to remain on a mission for almost 45 days.
Between 2005 and 2007, following the submarine’s refitting, India initially declined to accept its delivery after it failed to successfully test-fire the new SS-N-27 Club-S cruise missiles. The vessel was accepted only after these issues were resolved.
Designed to launch from a 533 mm torpedo tube, or a vertical launch tube, the Club-S subsonic cruise missile has a range of 160 nautical miles (about 220 km).
The missile system uses an ARGS-54 active radar seeker and Glonass satellite and inertial guidance.
