(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
Even though the Defence Ministry of India has again extended the
deadline for submitting the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the
advanced submarine project to November 30, South Korean Daewoo and
Spanish Navantia has shown interest in building the long endurance
diesel submarine under the strategic partnership model with India.
The RFP was first issued in July 2021 and extended to November 30,
2022, from June 30, 2022, deadline.
The decision to extend the deadline was taken as certain clauses
relating to“joint and several penalties” needs to be amended in
the RFP document. The amended clauses will be taken up by the
Defence Acquisition Committee (DAC) for approval shortly. Under the
strategic partnership model, India has identified Mazagoan Docks
Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) to tie up with foreign
defence majors in South Korea, Spain, Germany, France, and Russia
to build six air independent propulsion (AIP) diesel attack
submarines for the Indian Navy at the cost of over ₹40,000
crore.
As of now, South Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine
Engineering and Spanish company Navantia, who have proven AIP
technology has shown interest in building the submarines under
Project 75 India of the Indian Navy.
While the national security planners had considered to extend
the on-going Project 75 diesel attack submarine project by
extending the production line at MDL to three more submarines, the
move was over-ruled in favour of the fuel-based AIP project as the
latter have higher endurance and more potent.
In layman terms, a diesel attack submarine must come to surface
once a day to charge its diesel batteries, while the AIP submarine
must surface once a week to do the same. Hence, the AIP equipped
submarine with land attack ballistic missile onboard is a more
potent weapon in equatorial waters due to lateral inversion in the
tropics.
While French Naval Group, Russian Rosoboronexport and TKMS
Germany have not shown interest with French now focusing on nuclear
powered sub-surface platforms and Germany using latest lithium cell
technology, the South Korean and Spanish defence majors are keen to
participate in the project.
The South Korean defence major Daewoo has already commissioned
the first AIP equipped submarine Dosan Ahn Changho in 2019, while
Spanish Isaac Peral was launched in April 22, 2021 at Cartagena
Shipyards. Both the submarines have land attack missiles including
ballistic and cruise missiles on board.
The Indian Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)
has also developed the AIP technology and will be retrofitted on
Project 75 submarines when they come for mid-life upgrade. The
first of the six indigenous Scorpene class submarine, INS Kalveri,
was commissioned in the Indian Navy in 2017. Three more have been
commissioned in the Indian Navy since then.
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