Kalvari Class Submarines - Updates & Discussions

the last i heard, ze german had also withdrawn frome the P75I...
Neither NG nor TKMS have withdrawn from the latest RFI issued though both have reservations about certain clauses. I'm guessing a couple of rounds of talks would follow post which this RFI gets withdrawn & a fresh final one's released.
 

France gives India’s subs a stealthy tech boost​


France and India have signed an agreement to cooperate on air-independent propulsion (AIP) technology to upgrade the latter’s Kalvari-class submarines, deepening the growing strategic relationship between the two countries.

AIP technology allows conventional submarines to stay submerged for weeks at a time, approaching the underwater endurance of nuclear submarines.

This month, Indian Express reported that Naval Group France and India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) had signed an agreement to develop fuel cell AIP to be retrofitted on the first-of-class INS Kalvari, a derivative of the French Scorpene-class submarine.

The report cites a DRDO statement that says senior officials of DRDO New Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) and Naval Group signed the agreement to extend cooperation for the detailed design phase of integrating India’s indigenous AIP into the INS Kalvari, with Naval Group certifying the integration.

The report did not mention specifics about the AIP’s performance, but did say it is unique in generating hydrogen onboard instead of storing it aboard in liquid form.

India’s new AIP system is most likely derived from Naval Group’s Fuel Cell Second Generation (FC2G) model, which cracks diesel fuel in a reformer to extract hydrogen, using liquid oxygen and nitrogen as oxidizers. When the hydrogen is mixed with oxygen, it generates electricity to charge the submarine’s batteries and produces water used in the cracking process.

Asia Times has reported on France’s assistance to India’s 5th generation fighter and conventional submarine programs. French aerospace company Safran in cooperation with India’s DRDO plans to co-produce jet engines for India’s 5th generation fighter. At the same time, India’s Kalvari-class submarines are built under a 2005 technology transfer program with France.

Still, India’s program is lagging behind its ambitions. In a July 2022 article, The Print reported that India needs help with its ambitious program to acquire 24 submarines by 2030, including 18 conventional and six nuclear-powered submarines. Currently, India operates only 16 submarines, with one nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) and no AIP submarines.
China’s rising presence in the Indian Ocean and Pakistan’s rapidly modernizing submarine fleet are driving India’s renewed submarine modernization project.

Prakash Panneerselvam, assistant professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Begaluru, notes in a recent article that the Indian Ocean is an attractive area of operations for the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N), which unlike the Western Pacific where the US and Japanese navies heavily patrol is relatively safe for PLA-N submarines to operate.

Panneerselvam mentions China’s naval base in Djibouti as facilitating those operations. He also notes the growing presence of China’s hydrographic and surveillance ships and underwater drones in the Indian Ocean, which he suggests may be mapping underwater features and passageways for future submarine operations there.

He argues that China’s increasing footprint in the Indian Ocean poses a challenge to India’s sphere of influence in the region and a security risk in India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), as these deployments could spy on Indian naval facilities and vessels in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

Pakistan is also significantly modernizing its submarine fleet to help offset its military asymmetry with India. In an August 2021 article for the Center for International Strategic Studies, Samran Ali notes that historically the Pakistani Navy has operated smaller numbers of ships, submarines and aircraft vis-a-vis the Indian Navy, with the latter having more resources, assets and ambitions of controlling the Indian Ocean.

Ali notes that this disparity requires Pakistan to implement an anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy to restrict the Indian Navy from operating close to Pakistan’s coastline and away from its important trade routes in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

In line with this strategy, Pakistan ordered eight Hangor-class conventional submarines from China, the export variant of China’s 039A/041 Yuan-class AIP submarines equipped with Stirling engines, Naval News reported in December.

The report notes that four of the submarines are currently under construction at China’s Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group (WSIG) and that work on the first of four submarines built in Pakistan by Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW) began in December 2022, with the first four to be delivered in 2022-2023 and the final four in 2028.

Meanwhile, a stop-gap refit is underway on India’s four aging Russian-made Kilo-class submarines, which now face several issues due to Western-led sanctions on Russia.
This January, the Times of India (TOI) reported that one of India’s Kilo-class submarines sent for refit in Russia is stuck due to problems returning it to India.
“The submarine should have ideally come directly back from Russia. But because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, there are transportation and other problems. So, the plan now is to sail it to a Norwegian port and then carry it on a sea-lift vessel to Mumbai,” said an unnamed source quoted by TOI.
Asia Times has reported on India’s push to reduce its reliance on Russian military equipment. Concerns about the effectiveness of Russian weapons due to heavy losses in Ukraine, the possibility that weapons orders may be redirected or delayed to replace battle losses, and sanctions on Russia’s arms industry are all factoring into India’s rethink about Russia’s viability as its primary weapons provider.

At the same time, India’s concern about being reduced to a US subordinate has prevented it from going all-in on the Quad Alliance, of which France is not a member. Similarly, France’s push for strategic autonomy reflects ex-leader Charles De Gaulle’s vision of creating a European community that is not subordinate to the US, with France playing a leadership role.

India and France are thus well-suited to reinforcing each other’s strategic autonomy through defense cooperation in aerospace and naval technology, creating a security partnership independent of US influence.

 
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France gives India’s subs a stealthy tech boost​




It was also said that pump propeller has also been released to India. But maybe only for indian SSN, because not so easy to replace a classical propeller with a pump one if not studied from the beginning.
 
(cnbcindonesia, feb.24)

Looking forward to the Realization of the Indonesian Submarine Program​

excerpt:
"(...) Regarding the competition between the Naval Group and TKMS, there are several things that decision makers in Indonesia should pay attention to. First, the operational technical considerations of submarines. Considering the operational technical advantages of submarines should only be one of a number of considerations in determining which submarine to choose. The end of the debate regarding AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) versus non-AIP submarines will be determined by what kind of operational tactics are needed by the navy as a submarine operator, so there is no single and absolute answer to the debate.

Second, anticipate technological advances. The current procurement of submarines must anticipate future technological advances related to submarines. Such as the use of lithium-ion batteries to replace lead-acid and AIP batteries where lithium-ion batteries have better performance than AIP in submarine operations. Japan has already started moving from AIP technology to lithium-ion batteries, while Naval Group will follow Japan's lead in the next few years. Other shipyards have looked at using lithium-ion batteries in submarines, although they have not made it public when they will start adopting the technology and in what configuration.

Third, economic benefits for Indonesia. Procurement of new submarines should not just be an ordinary weapons trading activity, but can provide economic benefits to Indonesia. Such economic benefits can be obtained if the offers made by the Naval Group and/or TKMS directly encourage the creation of an ecosystem for the Indonesian submarine industry. The submarine industry ecosystem in Indonesia may be created as referring to India's experience where the Naval Group in partnership with Magazon Dock Shipbuilder Limited (MDL) created an industrial ecosystem consisting of 50 Indian firms. (...)" /deepl
 
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Navy to approach govt for three AIP-equipped attack submarines


Good news. Finally sense prevails. If paper work on this is quick, we can actually see the signing of this follow on contract in 2023-24 FY.
" The Indian Navy is expected to approach Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) for acceptance of the necessity for three air independent propulsion (AIP) equipped diesel attack submarines to be built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in collaboration with the French Naval Group. "
 
Navy to approach govt for three AIP-equipped attack submarines


Good news. Finally sense prevails. If paper work on this is quick, we can actually see the signing of this follow on contract in 2023-24 FY.
" The Indian Navy is expected to approach Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) for acceptance of the necessity for three air independent propulsion (AIP) equipped diesel attack submarines to be built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in collaboration with the French Naval Group. "
Let's hope Shishir Gupta is correct this time. He definitely has some inside knowledge.
 
Navy to approach govt for three AIP-equipped attack submarines


Good news. Finally sense prevails. If paper work on this is quick, we can actually see the signing of this follow on contract in 2023-24 FY.
" The Indian Navy is expected to approach Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) for acceptance of the necessity for three air independent propulsion (AIP) equipped diesel attack submarines to be built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in collaboration with the French Naval Group. "
I am thinking what names they will get.

Kalvari-class already use the names from previous Kalvari and Vela class so we might see some new names coming.
 
Well I said because of naval group agreeing to install DRDO aip onboard. So that is possibly a good indicator? Until that fitment is good and all well, actual deal can not be confirmed. Lots of risk matters that would complicate both certification & insurance process.
 
(swarajya, may19)

India's Submarine Building Capacity To Remain Idle As Last Kalvari-Class Boat Goes To Trials Without New Project In Sight​

INS Vaghsheer, the sixth and final boat of the Kalvari-class or Scorpene-class, has commenced sea trials. The submarine is scheduled to be delivered to the Indian Navy by the end of this year.​
This will mark the completion of the $3.5 billion Project-75, which started in 2005 after India signed a deal with the French defense major Naval Group to manufacture six submarines in India with technology transfer.​
However, with INS Vaghsheer entering the sea trials phase, the production line at the Mazagaon Dockyard, where these boats were built, has once again become empty, with no new orders in sight.​
Although there are rumors that the Navy might be planning to buy three additional Scorpene submarines, a final contract has yet to be signed.​
Moreover, Project-75I (India), the program for building submarines equipped with Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology, has remained stalled for years, experiencing repeated delays. The Ministry of Defense has granted an extension for bid submissions for the project.​
The delays are due to the stringent requirements of the liability clause and the need for the bidder to have an in-service AIP system.​
Currently, only the German Shipyard Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) possesses an in-service AIP system, installed in the U-212 submarines of the German and Italian Navies. This single-vendor situation significantly diminishes the prospects of the Project-75I moving forward.​
Consequently, the infrastructure and industrial capacity developed for the Kalvari-class submarine project, as well as the knowledge gained from constructing the six boats, are likely to remain unused.​
This mirrors the past situation when the production line became empty after the construction of only two boats of the Shishumar-class.​
In 1981, India signed a deal with the German government to purchase four U-209 submarines, with two submarines bought off the shelf and the other two built by MDL with technology transfer.​
Later, an agreement to build another two submarines was signed but was subsequently cancelled. After completing the construction of the two submarines, the MDL production line became empty.​
The technological expertise gained during the project was lost since no further submarines were built.​
Furthermore, India imported ten Russian Kilo-class submarines off-the-shelf, also known as the Sindhughosh-class in the Indian service.​
The idling of the production line is occuring despite the Indian Navy experiencing a decline in the number of submarines.​
Sindhughosh-class submarines, which form the backbone of the Navy's under-sea fleet, have begun to retire from service. As more Sindhughosh-class boats retire and the Shishumar-class submarines age, the situation will worsen. The oldest Shishumar-class boat, 'INS Shishumar', is 37 years old, and the youngest, 'INS Shankul', is nearly 29 years old.​
The strategic picture, however, appears even worse.​
China is commissioning aircraft carriers, warships, and submarines in large numbers, and experts believe that by the end of this decade, the Chinese will start sending their aircraft carriers to the Indian Ocean Region for force projection. They already deploy both conventional and nuclear-powered submarines in the Indian Ocean.​
Earlier this month, the Indian Navy Chief, Admiral R Hari Kumar, revealed that the Chinese have three to six warships in the IOR at any given time.​
China is also assisting the Pakistani Navy in increasing its capabilities. The Pakistan Navy already operates three French-made Agosta-90B AIP-equipped submarines and is set to receive eight more AIP-equipped Chinese Yuan-class submarines by the end of this decade.​
On the other hand, the Indian Navy currently does not operate any AIP-equipped submarines. INS Kalvari, the lead boat of the Kalvari-class submarines, will receive AIP only after undergoing its first refit, which is scheduled to take place sometime this decade.​
The failure to capitalize on the infrastructure, technology, and industrial capacity developed for the Kalvari-class submarines will have dire consequences for India's ability to design and build conventional submarines indigenously./end