Tag Archives: India

Indian Navy set to issue tender for new submarines

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Project 75-I

The  Indian Navy is set to “very soon” issue a RfP (request for proposal or tender) for a new line of six submarines with AIP (air independent propulsion) capability.

The requirement has been pending for quite a few years but the proposal for the new line, designated Project 75-I, has now being given firm clearance by the government, according to Indian Navy chief,  Admiral DK Joshi.

Asked how soon is “very soon,” the naval chief told  India Strategic defence magazine (www.indiastrategic.in) that the defence acquisition committee (DAC) had already cleared a note on acceptance of necessity (AON), the navy had finalized the RfP and it was in its last stage of formalities for clearance in the defence ministry.

As per procedures, depending on the money involved, AON has to be cleared by a competent authority. If the requirement involves more than Rs 1,000 crores ($200 million ), then it is by the DAC, headed by the defence minister. The approval was accorded just before the Navy Day on December 4, 2012.

AIP increases the mission life of a submarine by around three times, depending upon the task and parameters required. The capability enables a submarine to generate air onboard without the need to surface for breathing to recharge its batteries.

At present, none of the Indian submarines have this capability, and some of them can only be under water for only three to five days. The existing fleet of 14 diesel-electric submarines is rather weak despite the periodic upgrades, although some newer EW (electronic warfare) systems have been installed.

Submarines are about staying underwater as long as possible, and that is why nuclear power is used to keep them submerged for around three months, or to the limits of human endurance.

The new Project 75-I submarines should be huge in value, estimated at around $10 billion-plus, depending upon the offsets and transfer of technology (ToT).

At present, six new Scorpenes under Project 75 are being built for more than 5% billion (Rs 23,562 crore) by the state-run Mazagon Dock Ltd. (MDL) under licence from the French DCNS company.

MDL is also hoping to get the new Project 75-I line but it has substantial work in hand for years — 14 ships in addition to the six Scorpenes. The experience gained in building the Scorpenes though should be extremely useful and must not get wasted.

AIP is also being considered for the last two of the existing line of Scorpenes by installing plugs — about eight meters in length and the same diameter as that of the submarine. Admiral Joshi said that the (Defence Research and Development Organisation) DRDO was working on building these plugs, but that if this entailed delay, “we will not wait”.

The Scorpene project is already late by three years, with the first submarine scheduled to be out in June 2015 — instead of 2012 — and the last in September 2018.

DCNS has offered to build the plugs and some negotiations have taken place with it. Nonetheless, DRDO’s Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) at Ambernath in Maharashtra is working on the project to bring in some  indigenous capability and content.

About the Project 75-I,  defence ministry sources said that its Department of Defence Production was working on fine-tuning some features like Who-Will-Do-What among the Indian shipyards and the suppliers in terms of sub-systems and weapons. Details on offsets and ToT, which have a sizeable bearing on the costs, are also being given the last touches.

Notably, the defence offsets policy mandates a minimum investment of 30 per cent to be put back in a related defence industrial venture in India, but in the biggest defence contract that is now being negotiated for the French Rafale multi role combat aircraft (MRCA), this figure is 50 per cent.

As per indications, the RfP for the submarines should be out even in January 2013, or latest by March before the financial year 2012-13 ends.

The Indian Navy’s current fleet of conventional diesel-electric submarines is quite old.

There are four HDW Shishumar class submarines acquired from Germany and 10 Kilo Sindhughosh class from Russia, both from 1986 onwards. The service life of a submarine is estimated at around 20 years, but because of political indecision after the allegations over the purchase of Bofors guns from  Sweden, the modernization process of the Navy — along with that of the Army and Indian Air Force — suffered.

In 1998, the then naval chief, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, projected a requirement of a 24-submarine fleet in the navy’s long-term vision for 30 years. In 1999, the Cabinet committee on security (CCS) — the apex body headed by the prime minister — approved the plan for their indigenous construction in two lines.

The Scorpenes are being built in India to gain experience and indigenous support capability. India had gained some earlier with the induction of HDW boats but as there was no follow-on programme, that experience was lost and all those involved in the project have retired.

The only direct submarine acquisition of the Indian Navy after the HDW and Kilo submarines is that of the single nuclear power attack submarine (SSN) INS Chakra from  Russia in 2012. There are also some technical issues with it, and during his recent to New Delhi, Russian President  Vladimir Putin promised to have them sorted out ASAP.

An SSN is a nuclear propelled but not nuclear armed submarine. The conventionally-powered diesel electric submarines are knows as the SSK class.

Source – The Times of India

Indian Submarine launched ballistic missile ready for production

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India’s submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is ready for production. Its pre-production test flight on Wednesday from a pontoon off the coast of Visakhapatnam was successful.

The missile is ready for integration with the country’s nuclear submarine ‘INS Arihant’. The capability puts India among the elite club of nations possessing such weapons. These include the US, Russia, France, UK, Israel and China.

The underwater-launched ballistic missile was tested for the minimum range as per the requirement of the user. It achieved all its objectives, said Avinash Chander, Chief Controller R&D (Missiles & Strategic Systems).

The missile system for the nuclear-powered Arihant platform will give the country the complete cycle of possessing options to deploy nuclear weapons from air, land and under sea. This is the tenth flight test of the missile.

The missile has a maximum range of 700 km , according to defence experts.

Source – Business Line

Indian nuclear submarine INS Chakra facing problems with critical components:

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India’s only Russian-origin nuclear submarine INS Chakra is facing problems with its critical components affecting its operational readiness.

The 8,000-tonne submarine has been facing problems with its critical components and Russia has been asked to provide the parts for the vessel which need to be replaced, Navy sources said.

However, they did not divulge the components which would have to be replaced but indicated they are critical for the operations of the submarine. India had inducted the Akula-II Class ‘Nerpa’ nuclear submarine in its inventory in April this year at the Vishakhapatnam-based Eastern Naval Command. It was renamed ‘Chakra’ by the Indian Navy.

The Russian submarine had met with an accident in November 2008 when it was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan in which around twenty sailors were killed and several others were left injured.

The submarine was launched in 1993-94 but its construction was held up since then due to lack of funds with the Russian Navy.

However, in 2004, the Russian side decided to build it after reaching a ten-year lease agreement for operation of the submarine with the Indian side.

With INS Chakra and the yet-to-be-inducted indigenously built INS Arihant, India is planning to have two nuclear submarines guarding its vast maritime boundary. With a maximum speed of 30 knots, Chakra can go to a depth of 600 metres and has an endurance of 100 days with a crew of 73. However, as per the lease accord, it cannot carry nuclear warheads.

The vessel is armed with four 533mm and four 650mm torpedo tubes. India had leased and operated a Charlie-class Russian nuclear submarine, also called ‘Chakra’, in 1988 for training its personnel on such submarines.

Source – ZEE News

India upgrading submarine fleet

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India is constantly upgrading its submarine fleet with modern weapons and sensors, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Monday.

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This was done to “ensure that the combat capacity of the country remains at the desire level”, he said in a statement in the Lok Sabha.

“The government has approved the submarine programme to adequately augment (the) submarine fleet of the navy,” he said.
The minister was asked if the government had signed any agreement with foreign countries regarding procurement of submarines with state-of-the-art technologies.

He said the government signed a contract in 2005 with Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai, to construct six Scorpene class submarines under Project-75.
Mazago Dock Ltd was building these submarines after signing an accord with a French company, he said.

Source – IndiaTVnews

India expanding submarine force to meet China threat

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India expanding submarine force to meet China threat

Indian Navy Submarine of the modified German Type 209 Class
Indian Navy Submarine of the modified German Type 209 Class

The government of India has approved $10 billion in funding to vastly expand and improve the Indian Navy’s undersea warfare capabilities. Shipbuilders in France, Germany, Russia and Spain are this week lining up bids on the new Indian Navy project which comes less than a year after $18 billion was funded to equip the Indian Air Force with new Rafale fighter aircraft.

The new project includes next generation diesel-electric attack submarines to augment the current fleet which consists of 10 Kilo Class of Russian design; four modified German Type 209 Class and two nuclear powered Akula Class attack submarines leased from Russia. An additional six Scorpene Class diesel-electric submarines of French & Spanish joint design are being built at India’s Mazagon Dock Ltd. shipyards.

Though the total number of new submarines has not been decided, the newer subs will be larger than the six Scorpenes currently building and would include both land attack missile capability and air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems; developed by Swedish naval engineers allowing a diesel-electric submarine to run their ‘air breathing’ engines at low power in conjunction with batteries while submerged for three or more weeks almost as stealthily as a nuclear submarine.

Defense analyst and international security experts alike often ponder confusedly as to why India feels the need for a powerful ‘blue water’ navy in a region with no serious naval power present aside from the United States with whom India has had more or less friendly relations since the end of British rule in 1947; the answer of course being China.

India and China have had tensions off and on since Communist China’s victory over the Nationalist Chinese in 1949. The two nations finally came to blows in a brief border war in 1962. China is a long time supporter of India’s arch nemesis Pakistan. Until recently however, there was no serious naval threat posed to India by China’s minor coastal naval force; separated by the whole of Southeast Asia from the Indian Ocean.

However in tandem with Chinese naval expansion was an expansion of inroads in the Indian Ocean region with purchases of local sea port facilities and airports or investment in joint ventures to expand such facilities or build new ones in partnerships with Burma, Thailand, Seychelles and Pakistan. Projects particularly troublesome to India since all Chinese companies are owned in some fashion by the Chinese government despite the widely held belief in Chinese ‘privatization’.

The sea ports and air ports would provide China bases from which to operate naval aircraft and vessels against Indian seaborne commerce and naval forces on a much shorter logistical leash than if they tethered to bases in China. Of particular concern is China’s fleet of 50 diesel electric submarines which could easily operate out of friendly ports in the Indian Ocean.

India clearly recognizing the problem is now embarking on the best solution $10 Billion can buy. India is also expanding its surface battle fleet with purchases of the former Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov (renamed Vikramaditya) and the Russian designed Talwar Class stealth frigates for air defense and anti-submarine warfare. India has also begun domestic construction of two 65,000 ton aircraft carriers. There have however been delays and disputes with the Russians over quality and workmanship on the frigates and the rebuilt Gorshkov.

Source – Examiner