French shipyard proposes partnering India’s Mazagon Dock to build submarines for export

They pledged to cooperate in ‘joint export of submarines to a mutually friendly country,’ but have not named the client country so far.

By Ajai Shukla

The Diplomat

30 October 2025

 

Over the last two decades, French shipbuilder Naval Group has cooperated closely with India’s largest warship builder, Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), Mumbai, for building six Scorpene conventional submarines for the Indian Navy under a scheme named Project 75.

With the sixth and last Scorpene submarine about to be delivered to the Indian Navy, MDL faces the unwelcome prospect of an assembly line running on empty and skilled workers without employment.

To prevent this from coming to pass, Naval Group France and MDL are angling for new orders. On October 16, the two shipbuilding giants extended their existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), pledging to cooperate in “the joint export of submarines to a mutually friendly country.”

The name of the client country has not been revealed so far.

According to this extended MoU, Naval Group and MDL “will continue to leverage their complementary strengths - Naval Group’s proven expertise in submarine design and combat systems, and MDL’s robust industrial capabilities and track record in indigenous submarine construction under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.”

Meanwhile, to keep MDL’s Scorpene integration facility busy, the Ministry of Defense has signed two contracts with the Mumbai shipyard, worth US $325 million. One contract, worth US $225 million, looks to increase the capability of the indigenous AIP system developed by India’s Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and its integration on board Indian submarines. 

The second, US $100 million contract, is to integrate the DRDO-built Electronic Heavy Weight Torpedo (EHWT) on board the Kalvari-class submarines. 

Another measure the MoD has been considering to keep MDL busy is to build three more Scorpene submarines until there is a decision on Project 75 (India). But that will require speeding up the lengthy process of contracting, which has taken years in the past, especially for Project 75. It will also require the allocation of an estimated US $4.3 billion, which would seriously overload the navy’s capital budget.

The enabling legislation is complete. The Naval Group press release of October 16 cited an agreement signed in July 2023, “reaffirming the long-standing Indo-French partnership in the field of submarine design, engineering and advanced naval technology.”

It says the proposed collaboration was “fully aligned with the broader Indo-French Horizon 2047 roadmap, which seeks to deepen strategic cooperation between the two nations in defence, security, and innovation, marking 25 years of the India-France Strategic Partnership.”

Project 75 is the first tranche of the Indian Navy’s 30-Year Plan for indigenous submarine construction, which the Union Cabinet approved in 1999. 

The second tranche, designated Project 75 (India), involves building six more submarines with air-independent propulsion (AIP) in India, in partnership with a foreign original equipment manufacturer (OEM), who the Indian MoD will select.

This program is being processed under the Strategic Partnership model, introduced in Chapter 7 of the Defence Procurement Procedure of 2016. 

Indian naval planners regard Project 75(India) as vitally important because its tender incorporates two critical demands. First, the selected foreign partner must have a proven fuel cell AIP system that is already operational on board a submarine at sea. Second, the foreign OEM must be willing to transfer the entire submarine design to India.

These two conditions are deemed critical because the third tranche of the 30-year submarine construction plan – which involves building twelve submarines under the so-called Project 76 – has to be a fully indigenous effort from design to delivery, with no foreign support.

With Indian shipyards having absorbed submarine construction techniques over the course of Projects 75 and 75 (India), it is expected that the stage would be set for Project 76.

When the tender for Project 75 (India) was issued in 2021, responses were received from two consortia: MDL, Mumbai, in partnership with Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) Germany; and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) India, in partnership with Navantia of Spain.

The Request for Proposal (RfP) stipulated that the foreign partner had to demonstrate the AIP system on offer on board a submarine at sea. 

AIP (air-independent propulsion) gives a submarine battle-winning advantages. While conventional diesel-electric submarines can operate underwater for no more than 48 hours, submarines with AIP can remain underwater for up to two weeks before they must surface for battery charging. That provides significant operational advantages over legacy diesel-electric submarines, which are easily detected by enemy radar, which spots masts or snorkels protruding out of the water while they recharge batteries.

TKMS, which has 25 years of experience in operating AIP systems on board operational submarines. did so successfully in March 2024. However, Navantia, which has neither a proven AIP system nor a system installed on board a submarine, could not do so during its Field Evaluation Trial in June 2024.

TKMS presently has 52 AIP systems operational on board submarines in Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Singapore, Israel, Portugal, Greece and South Korea. These power a range of TKMS submarines, including the Type 209, the Type 212, the Type 212 NFS, the Type 214 and the Type 218.

TKMS has a proven record of collaborating with numerous countries to develop cooperation models in accordance with their requirements. These include successful partnerships with South Korea, Italy, Turkey and Israel.

MDL, the Indian shipyard, also has a proven record in submarine construction. It partnered TKMS (then HDW) in building two Type 209 submarines—INS Shalki in 1992 and INS Shankul in 1994.

These Type 208 submarines were modified to meet Indian requirements and continue to be frontline naval platforms more than three decades later.

TKMS has successfully shared technology with MDL to the extent that none of the Indian Navy’s four Type 209 submarines have ever needed to return to Germany for repairs, refits, modernization or life extension certification, all of which have been undertaken by MDL. 

This contrasts favorably with India’s Kilo-class submarines, which have been back to Russia numerous times for refits and modernization.

MDL also has the advantage of an operational production line. Twenty years of the Scorpene program have created a qualified and experienced workforce, and a management that is sensitive to the nuances of submarine construction.

To meet the high level of indigenization that has been demanded for Project 75 (India), there is already a robust ecosystem of Indian defense industries, which is confident that it can deliver the indigenous products demanded. For the Project 75 (India) program, this experience and infrastructure represent a huge plus for India.