Five years late, Scorpene submarine INS Kalvari joins navy - Broadsword by Ajai Shukla - Strategy. Economics. Defence.

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Thursday 14 December 2017

Five years late, Scorpene submarine INS Kalvari joins navy



By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 14th Dec 17

After 11 years in construction at Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai (MDL), the first Scorpene (French for scorpion) submarine, INS Kalvari, was commissioned into the Indian navy by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi in Mumbai on Thursday.

The Kalvari is the first of six conventional submarines for which the navy signed a Rs 18,798 crore contract in 2005 with French-Spanish submarine consortium, Armaris. That company was taken over by France’s Direction des Constructions Navales Services (DCNS), and its cost went up to Rs 23,562 crore. In June, DCNS changed its name to Naval Group.

All six Scorpenes were to be delivered between 2012 and 2015, but that schedule has slipped to 2017-2020. The second vessel, INS Khanderi, is currently undergoing sea trials and is on track for delivery in March. The other four are scheduled for delivery, according to the defence ministry, at nine-month intervals till mid-2021. Naval Group however said in a statement on Thursday that the Scorpenes “will be delivered at a rate of one every 12 months. By that estimation, the last Scorpene would be delivered in early 2022.

Compounding the five year delay in building the Kalvari, the submarine has been languishing for almost three months after it was handed over to the navy, fully built and tested, in September. Since then, it has awaited the PM’s availability for half a day for the commissioning ceremony.

In the event, a galaxy of VIPs attended the ceremony, included Maharashtra governor, Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Defence, Subhash Bhamre and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

According to the “commissioning warrant”, read out by Kalvari’s first commanding officer, Captain SD Mehendale, the vessel has been placed under  the navy’s Western Command. This means it will primarily operate in the shallow waters of the Arabian Sea, blockading Pakistani ports and naval bases in wartime and sneaking up on enemy warships to destroy them with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. It could also be used to blockade shipping from West Asia, entering the Arabian Sea through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a war with China, Indian submarines would guard four major south east Asian straits – Malacca, Lombok, Sunda and Ombai Wettar – preventing Chinese warships based in the South China Sea from crossing into the Indian Ocean.

Even in peacetime the Indian Navy has, since June, continuously maintained a submarine and a surface warship off the Andaman Islands on “Malacca Domain Awareness” patrols, as part of a new posture of “mission based deployment”.

In fulfilling multiple operational tasks, the six Scorpene boats (as navies refer to submarines) will be a welcome addition to the navy’s aging fleet of 13 conventional submarines. These include four 23-31 year-old, German-origin HDW Type 209 boats (called the Shishumar-class); and nine 17-31 year-old, Russian-origin Kilo class 877 EKM vessels (called the Sindhughosh-class).

The Kalvari is being commissioned almost exactly on the Golden Jubilee of the navy’s submarine arm. On December 8, 1967 the navy commissioned its first submarine, a Soviet Foxtrot-class boat that was the original INS Kalvari. That boat’s captain, Commodore (Retired) Subramanian attended the commissioning in Mumbai today.

The new Kalvari is a technological marvel compared to its forebear. Displacing 1,565 tonnes, it is 67.5 metres long and 12.3 metres high and is powered by a quiet “Permanently Magnetised Propulsion Motor” that drives it underwater at 20 knots (37 kilometres per hour, or kmph) and, while surfaced, at 12 knots (22 kmph). There are plans to equip the last two Scorpenes with advanced “air independent propulsion”.

A submarine’s key attribute is stealth, since it is extremely vulnerable once an enemy detects it. Stealth comes from reducing engine noise and from silencing the boat’s internal systems. In the Kalvari, systems are mounted on shock absorbing cradles to dampen vibrations and reduce its noise signature.

The defence ministry says the Kalvari is armed with the heavyweight, 533-millimetre, wire-guided Surface and Underwater Target (SUT) torpedo, an old German armament acquired in the 1980s for the navy’s four Shishumar-class submarines. The navy had initially chosen the modern Black Shark torpedo, built by WASS. That option fell through when the defence ministry banned all buys from Finmeccanica group companies (including WASS) after Italy began investigating corruption by Agusta Westland (a Finmeccanica company) in selling VVIP helicopters to India.

Besides the outdated SUT torpedo, the Kalvari packs the Exocet SM39 anti-ship missile, built by the Franco-British-Italian conglomerate, MBDA. The defence ministry says the Kalvari has already “undertaken successful torpedo launch as well as the navy’s maiden SM 39 Exocet combat missile firing on 02 Mar 2017.”

Like all underwater predators the Kalvari is superbly equipped to detect targets. It uses sonar and ranging equipment that is integrated into a digital Submarine Tactical Integrated Combat System (SUBTICS). This includes a Low Frequency Analysis and Ranging (LOFAR) sonar, which detects and classifies targets at long ranges (exact ranges are a closely guarded secret). Its periscopes are equipped with infrared and low light cameras and laser range finders.

Naval Group says the Kalvari is the fifth Scorpene submarine in the world. It has already delivered two each to Chile and Malaysia. In addition, four are under construction in Brazil.

While commissioning the Kalvari, the PM described INS Kalvari as a prime example of “Make in India.” In fact, Project 75, as the Scorpene procurement is named, pre-dates “Make in India” by 18 years. In 1999, the cabinet approved the navy’s 30-year submarine building programme, which involves the indigenous construction of 24 submarines by 2029. Project 75, to build six submarines, is the first part of that.

Alongside Project 75, six more submarines with “air independent propulsion” are to be indigenously built under Project 75-I. The defence ministry has allocated this to the private sector under the “Strategic Partner” policy, and a Request for Information has gone out to global vendors. Subsequently, Project 76 would kick off, which envisages the indigenous design and construction of 12 more submarines.

12 comments:

  1. You have Shishumar and Sindhughosh mixed up inadvertently.

    - Manne

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shouldn’t it be German HDW Type 209 and Russian Kilo EKM 877

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ajay sir you have mixed up the subs. Kilos are the EKMs and TYpe 209 are the shishumar class I guess

    ReplyDelete
  4. It would be good to hear Col. Shukla's assessment of the impact of the leak of sensitive data relating to the Scorpenes, which was published in an Australian newspaper some months ago. If the safety or operational effectiveness of the submarine class has not been unduly compromised by that leak, or if it has been fixed by subsequent modifications, then does it not make sense to order more such boats? That would be a good way to quickly close the capability gap that has arisen due to the delay in P75-I. In any case, a class of a mere 6 boats seems woefully inadequate to counter the increasing Chinese-Pakistani naval build up. A fleet of say 12 Scorpenes by 2025 built at MDL would surely be a better solution than yet more delay with the P-75I which is nowhere in sight?

    Does it make sense to give the P-75I Project to the private sector? After all, submarine design and construction expertise takes much time to develop, and since Mazgaon Dock (MDL) has already acquired some experience with the Scorpene program, should they not be the automatic choice going forward? By introducing half-baked policies such as the SP initiative, the MoD seems to be delaying and hampering the strengthening of the armed forces. This new-found love for the private sector sometimes also gives rise to suspicion about crony capitalism.

    A final issue with the Scorpene seems to be the lack of Air Independent Propulsion (AIP). Thanks to the DRDO's insistence on using their AIP system on the Scorpene, the Navy decided to forego the original French AIP system with the Scorpenes. As usual, DRDO did not deliver and as a result the Kalvari and her sisters will go to sea without AIP. AIP is now almost standard fit on all new boats and hugely enhances their effectiveness ..... yet another short-sighted decision and no one held accountable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everything action to involve the private sector in defence projects should not be cynically dismissed as 'crony capitalism'.
      The private and public sector both have to be integrated and involved in various projects of the country.
      A pointto consider would be if the various public sector enterprises have the capacity to undertake the projects.

      Delete
  5. Dear Readers,

    Thanks for alerting me to that careless mistake. I have made the correction.

    Getting too old for this stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Anonymous 03:42

    The last two boats are likely to have the French AIP.... and it could be retrofitted on the first four later.

    Project 75-I is being built with the DRDO AIP. The navy has satisfied itself about its readiness.

    ReplyDelete
  7. NSR says -
    If the technology is really transferred and if leaks did not compromise the submarine, then why India is not building more of these immediately?

    It troubles me to hear that shipyard will be idled and skills will be lost ...
    I think India must immediately build one every year until some god forsaken P-75I comes on line ...

    AIP is very important...France already built submarines with AIP for Pakistan...yes, they are strategic partners and friends...

    I hope that Col. Shukla writes an article on these issues...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why not ask HDW to comply with old sub deal....till when will they be black listed....


      Thank V P SINGH FOR THE MESS....

      Delete
  8. Better late than never. Atleast we are building them at home. Hopefully the newer heavy torpedos are decided quickly.
    Of these boats are stationed in the Arabian sea, it could mean the ones for bay of Bengal and Indian ocean will be heavier class . Possibly shows where P75I is headed .
    The crew comfort in these boats is supposed to generations ahead too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ajai, please correct the below info: These include four 20-30 year-old, German-origin HDW Type 209 boats (called the Shishumar-class); and nine 10-20 year-old, Russian-origin Kilo class 877 EKM vessels (called the Sindhughosh-class).

    The average time in service post commissioning of the Type 209 fleet is about 28 years with a range of 25+ to 31.2 + yrs.

    Similar figures for the Kilo (EKM) fleet are: excess of 28 years on average and a range of 17.4 yrs to about 32 yrs for the oldest boat. Clearly, none of the older boats are in the 10 year figure.

    Secondly, the SUT fish are for German origin Type 209 boats.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I also think plans for the last two P-75 boats ot be fitted with a DRDO equipped AIP unit have been shelved on account of delays. They are to be retrofitted during future Medium Refits.

    ReplyDelete

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