Indian Navy’s first Attack Scorpene Submarine Undocked for sea trials

Indian Navy’s first Scorpene submarine under Project 75 was undocked at the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in the presence of the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R.K. Dhowan, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and others officials also graced a puja ceremony to mark the auspicious launching of the vessel.

The ‘undocking’ marks the movement of the submarine mounted on pontoons from the berth area in the dock to the harbour. From September 2015 to September 2016, the submarine will undergo a year-and-a-half of rigorous trials and tests, both harbour and at sea, while on surface and while underwater before being commissioned into the Indian Navy.

Christened as ‘INS Kalveri’ (meaning ‘The Tiger Shark.) this submarine was scheduled to be inducted in 2012 now revised to Sept 2016. Here after the next five submarines will be rolled out at intervals of nine months each. 

In 1999 India conceived a 30-year programme to build 24 submarines. In October 2005, the contract for ‘Project-75’ was awarded to French defence giant DCNS to build six Franco-Spanish Scorpene-class diesel attack submarines at Mazgaon Docks Ltd. The deal involved extensive technology transfer agreements.

 

Commenting on the delay Parikkar said, “Time is crucial factor in completion of defence projects. I would urge the PSUs to double their production capacities in three years and complete the project on or before time,”. He added that the Ministry of Defence will penalize firms for their failure to deliver the projects even by a day and reward them with a bonus if they are handed over before time. 

Even though French blame the Indian side for the delay, Parrikar has said the delay is “mainly” due to difficulties in procuring material from foreign vendors.

The first four of the six submarines will be diesel-electric, while the last two will be Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation. This means that the first four submarines will not be able to remain submerged for long durations and will need to resurface to recharge its batteries  or using snorkelling pipe.

The AIP system will enable the Scorpene submarine to stay underwater for 21 more days, in addition to the existing 50 days it can endure.

The Scorpene can travel 1,020 kilometres underwater. It can travel 12,000 kilometres in the surfaced (above the water surface) mode.

The submarine is built using special steel which can take high yield stress. Its high tensile strength allows it to bear high hydrostatic force allowing deeper depth dives. The submarine has a maximum diving depth of 300m, giving its commander great tactical freedom

The Scorpene attack submarine can carry 18 Black Shark torpedoes, an advanced heavy weight torpedo missile developed by WASS, Italy and missiles or 30 mines. It is equipped with 21 torpedo tubes, providing salvo launch capability. India plans to arm the submarine with high-end  French MBDA SM-39 Exocet anti-ship missiles.

These submarines  will have superior stealth features and can carry weapons aboard which can be easily reloaded at sea. Thus the the submarine can launch its armament whilst underwater or on surface with precision-guidance capability delivering a crippling blow to the enemy.

The sub can hold a company of 31 men It has two diesel generation sets providing 1,250kW of power. The submarine can operate in all theatres including tropics. It is  expected to be equipped with means of communications to ensure interoperability with other components of  the naval task force.

The array of weapons and complex sensors fitted on board the Scorpene are managed by a high-technology combat management system.

It can  undertake multifarious warfare tasks including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying and area surveillance etc..

The minister urged all officers and workers of MDL not to limit themselves to making ships for India, but raise their performance across the globe.

He said the docks would face no dearth of orders, as after the six submarines are built under Project 75, the dockyard will be responsible for building more submarines under the P-75I venture.

“We are planning a blue water navy, which will enable us to operate in deep waters without frequent visits to the harbour.”

Project 75I : India asks Japan to participate

India’s Project 75I tender is aimed at boosting the Indian Navy’s underwater assets, currently at 11 submarines which are 13 short of their sanctioned number. The project is behind by nearly seven years after its was approved by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in October 2014 and is likely to be dispatched later this year. 

The Project envision licenced building a submarine by a ship building manufacturer shortlisted from multiple contenders, including DCNS (France), TKMS subsidiary HDW (Germany), Navantia (Spain) and Rosonboronexport (Russia), under a joint venture (JV) with an Indian shipyard.

A committee headed by Vice Admiral A V Subedar  has recently completed an audit of seven domestic shipyards – five of them state-owned and two private – to evaluate their submarine-building capability.

It is believed that the committee would submit its report to the MoD in February, after which the selected shipyards, along with IN-approved overseas submarine manufacturers, would be invited for trials around 2016 and a platform shortlisted by 2018. Price negotiations would follow, and IN officials anticipate the first Project 75I submarine being commissioned around 2025-27.

It is believed that the RFI response date, for nine potential local bidders, was deferred to 28 February – from the earlier deadlines of 24 November 2014 and 24 January – as many had been unable to conclude JVs with foreign original equipment manufacturers.

With Japan recently ending its decades old self-imposed arms export embargo, India has invited Japan to compete in the Indian Navy’s (IN’s) long-delayed INR500 billion (USD8.1 billion) Project 75I (India) requirement for six diesel-electric submarines with land attack and air independent propulsion (AIP) capabilities. New Delhi has forwarded “a proposal” to Tokyo to “consider the possibility” of making its latest diesel-electric  4,200-tonne Soryu-class submarines in India.

The Soryu class is also under evaluation by the Royal Australian Navy as a replacement for its six Collins-class boats.

India’s offer to Japan to join Project 75I is being viewed as a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effort at forging closer strategic and defence ties with Tokyo and formulating a wider maritime quadrilateral grouping that would include Australia and the United States.

Both India & Japan have unresolved territorial disputes with China that erupt periodically. The United States has also been advocating increased defence co-operation between India and Japan and Australia, which shares their collective concerns regarding China.

India too is also keen to propagate its bilateral strategic partnership with Japan to counter China’s growing military assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).Besides India is keen for Japan to participate in its domestic materiel manufacturing programmes as it is seeking technology to boost its defence industrial base. Defence-industrial partnerships of the kind proposed by India will further cement this strategic partnership

Barak-8 missiles on INS Kolkata destroyer

INS Kolkata commissioned its most-advanced warship into the Indian Navy eight months ago, sans its primary weapon system – the Barak 8 long range surface-to-air missiles. It was meant to carry 32 of these missile on-board in ready-to-fire mode.

It is now reported that Indian Navy is set to integrate Barak-8 long-range surface-to-air missiles on the Kolkata-class guided-missile destroyer INS Kolkata.

The Barak 8, has been co-developed with Israel, features an advanced target tracking system designed by an Israeli company, and a rocket motor built in India.The missiles has completed trials, paving the way for integration on INS Kolkata in April or May.

The missile has the capability to intercept approaching anti-ship missiles at a range of approximately 70km. The missile has been built at the Indian Government-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited based in Hyderabad and feature Israel’s MF-STAR radar system and rocket motor from India.

Key to the Barak 8’s ability to intercept incoming missiles is the Israel-made MF-STAR radar system which is capable of simultaneously tracking hundreds of airborne targets to a range of more than 250 kilometres.

The missile will simultaneously be fitted on board the INS Kochi, the sister ship of the INS Kolkata, which will soon be commissioned and subsequently, on the last ship of the class, the INS Chennai.

The Barak 8 is considered a game-changer for the Indian Navy because it adds a world-class system designed to destroy any anti-ship missile launched by the Pakistani or Chinese navies.