India’s defence acquisition council (DAC) has approved the procurement of six submarines from local shipyards worth INR 5000 crore (US$8.3 billion).
The DAC decision today gives the go-ahead to the Project-75I, a program to build six submarines equipped with an air-independent propulsion and a land-attack missile.
Various media outlets quoted official sources as stating that a committee will now be formed by the Defence Ministry which will study both public and private shipyards over the next 6-8 weeks.
Following this the Ministry will issue Request for Proposal (RFP) to shipyards that will be identified as having the capability and manpower to build six submarines.
The shipyards which receive the RFP will be allowed to have foreign partners with the condition of complete technology transfer.
The decision is expected to start a rush of collaboration talks between Indian shipyards and international submarine integrators and equipment manufacturers from the US, UK, France, Russia and Israel.
The P75I is a follow-on of the P-75 submarine project which is being built in India with technology transfer from DCNS, France. The first two of the six submarines under the project are being built at the Mazagaon shipyard in Mumbai.
The P75 project, also called the “Scorpene” submarine program, is behind schedule by several years with the first sub expected to hit the waters in 2016-17.
The P75I project envisages a wholly indigenous program of submarine building with experience gained from the P75 program.
The Indian Navy operates seven Russian-made Kilo-class and four German-made SSK submarines, the last of which joined service in the late 1990s. In the past year, three Kilo-class submarines were unavailable due to accidents severely depleting the submarine fleet.
The fire aboard submarine, INS Sindhuratna, originated in the cables of the vessel and not the battery compartment as originally reported last week. According to local media reports, the Board of Inquiry (BoI) into the accident has found that the fire battery pit has been found to be fully safe and the fire took place in the compartment above it
In a huge setback to the Indian Navy, the INS Sindhurakshak, Indias most advanced diesel-electric submarine was destroyed after an explosion broke out at a high-security military dockyard in Mumbai. According to reports, 18 Navy personnel are feared dead and the submerged half of the submarine is still under fire
A day after the Indian Ministry of Defense cleared proposals worth $13 billion, shares of local arms manufacturers rose as much as 8.6 per cent Monday
The Indian Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) Saturday approved the purchase of 362 BMP-2 “Sarath” infantry combat vehicles worth $293 million. The Indian Army has more than 1500 BMP-2 vehicles currently operational in various roles, such as armored ambulance, armored vehicle tracked light repair, armored amphibious dozer (AAD), armoured engineer reconnaissance vehicle (AERV), NBC reconnaissance vehicle (NBCRV), carrier mortar tracked, and unmanned reconnaissance vehicle
Partnerships between Indian and foreign arms manufacturers have shown a distinct upward trend in the past few months. Perhaps enthused by the hike in foreign investment limit from 26% to 49% and the Modi governments thrust to domestic manufacture of defence equipment, an increasing number of international firms are scouting for local partners
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