The news that the Spanish Navantia – Larsen & Toubro (L&T) partnership did not clear the technical evaluation for the P75(I) submarine deal makes the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TkMS) – Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) combination the ‘resultant single vendor’ for the venture.
This implies that decks will soon be cleared for commercial negotiations to commence between TkMS-MDL and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and the contract could be signed in the next 12-16 months, after which the actual process of construction of the submarines will commence. Going by historical timelines, all six submarines are likely to be delivered over the next 20 years, i.e., 2046, though contractual timelines will specify a shorter time-frame. This timeline is considered realistic as the weapons and sensors on the submarines must be nominated by the Indian side (which is normally the case) and requires clarity before finalising the design (based on TkMS’ latest Type 214 submarine). The fact that MDL will be simultaneously handling two submarine construction lines, the TkMS and Scorpene (three additional Scorpene submarines were cleared for acquisition in 2023), will also need to be taken into consideration.
The news is music to the eyes of the Indian Navy (IN), which has been labouring for the past 15 years on the acquisition process of the P75(I) project. Coming as it does, a few months after the Government of India (GoI) cleared the construction of two indigenous nuclear powered attack submarines (SSNs) and three additional Scorpene class submarines, the new acquisitions will provide the much-needed rejuvenation for the IN’s submarine arm, whose force was increasingly comprised of over 30-year-old submarines. Under the now well-known 30-year submarine building plan, approved by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 1999, India was to build 24 submarines over a 30-year period (1999-2029), with progressively greater indigenous content until the final batch would be fully designed and built in India. However, only six of the planned 24 submarines have been commissioned thus far. The contract for the first six Scorpene submarines under Project P75 was signed with DCNS, France, in 2005, and the sixth and last submarine of the project, INS Vagsheer, was commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi only in January this year.
