Indian Military

[Stratpost]

Copyright: DCNS

The French naval defense major DCNS has offered Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) for the Scorpenes being constructed for the Indian Navy at Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.

AIP is an auxiliary system for augmenting the ability of submarines to operate without surfacing, by increasing the endurance of the boat’s sub-surface operability. The DCNS system, known as MESMA (Module d’Energie Sous-Marine Autonome), is based on the combustion of stored oxygen and ethanol to augment battery-powered propulsion. Conventional diesel-electric vessels have to surface periodically to charge their batteries, which ultimately propel the boat. An AIP would decrease the Indiscretion Rate, which signifies the required frequency of surfacing to recharge batteries or exchange air, and increase the ability to loiter under water.

New Delhi – The French shipbuilding major Direction des Constructions Navales or DCNS is eyeing the Indian defence sector for future programmes even as its current collaboration, namely the P-75 to build six Scorpene submarines, is way behind schedule. DCNS has already looked into the request for information on the new P-75I project for six new submarines and is awaiting the request for proposal (RFP) of the same.

While the recent visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy has not affected any new defence deals, the willingness of DCNS to collaborate with India is a reflection of France’s openness towards India. The P-75 project for submarines also provides for transfer of technology. As for the French President, he has assured the supply of advanced defence technologies in a way that contributes to the modernisation of the Indian defence industry.

As per the revised schedule, the first submarine from the P-75 project is expected to be with the Indian Navy by 2015 and the last by 2018.

New Delhi – While the Indian government has announced that it will be acquiring six new submarines in the Project 75 India (P-75 i) project, the French major DCNS has made an offer to India of a bigger version of its Scorpene conventional diesel-electric (SSK) submarine for a $5 billion. The contract will be for six submarines.

According to DCNS, there will be an extension in the design of the existing Scorpene submarine and new sections in the submarine will include the Air Independent Propulsion (AIP). While DCNS has already responded to the Indian Navy’s Request for Information (RFI) last September, it is now awaiting the Indian Navy to issue its Request for Proposals (RFPs).

DCNS has already got a contract for building six Scorpene submarines at the state-owned Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) under a $4 billion contract signed with France in 2005. This also involves transfer of technology and the first submarine from the P-75 project is expected to be with the Indian Navy by 2015 and the last by 2018.

PARIS: France and Russia have agreed to build jointly two French Mistral-class command and amphibious assault warships, with the possibility of two more, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said on Friday.
"Following the October 5 tender to supply the Russian navy with two projection and command ships, the Russian authorities have chosen the consortium of France's DCNS and STX and Russian naval yard OSK," it said.
"Their offer initially covers the joint construction of two of this kind of vessel, which should be extended by the construction of two more," Sarkozy's Elysee Palace said in a statement.
The deal is the first sale to Russia of such naval high-tech by a NATO country and France's NATO allies, in particular the former Soviet Baltic states, have expressed concern about arming Moscow with modern Western weaponry.
Russia's choice of the French ships came after French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on a visit to Moscow earlier this month that France was ready to transfer military technology if it won the tender.

New Delhi — The state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), with the help of its laboratories, is working on the development of a land-based demonstrator followed by the creation of an Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system that will revolutionise the functions of the current diesel and electric submarines.

The DRDO is going full steam ahead with this project at the Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) at Ambernath in Maharashtra since the Indian Navy has gladly accepted the proposal by the DRDO. The creation of a fully operational version of an AIP will substantially cut down the time spent by the submarine on snorting or resurfacing for battery recharge. The creation of the AIP will considerably improve the sub-surface performance of the submarines and decrease its susceptibility to attacks.

According to DRDO sources, work on a land-based prototype will be initiated after which they will move to engineering a submarine platform. Sources said that the DRDO has been requested by the Indian Navy to create a fully engineered fuel cell AIP by 2014.

[Stratpost]

To shore up its depleting submarine fleet, India will this year issue a $11 billion global tender for building six more next generation vessels, navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said here Wednesday.

The new submarine program, known as Project 75I, will be a follow-on to the six Scorpenes that are being built at the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) under Project 75.

“The government has already cleared Project 75I. At the moment we are going through the process of Request For Information (RFI). I hope within this year we will be able to push the tender,” Verma said on the sidelines of a National Maritime Foundation seminar on submarines.

French firm DCNS is now executing the Project 75 Scorpene orders in collaboration with MDL at a cost of $4 billion. The Indian Navy operates 14 diesel-electric submarines at present after it decommissioned two Foxtrot class submarines last year. Of the 14 submarines, 10 are Kilo class Soviet-origin vessels and the rest are HDW German-origin vessels.