The 4 Submarines Competing For The Indian Navy’s P 75I Program
There are four contenders for the Indian navy’s next generation P75I submarine. They are currently submitting design proposals to the Indian Government. Whatever the outcome the boats are expected to all be built in India.
The four contenders are the Barracuda from France, the S80-Plus
from Spain, DSME 3000 from South Korea and Amur design from Russia. Germany had
also been a contender but recently said that they dropped out. All of the
contenders have their merits and it is likely to be a tough choice for the
Indian Navy.
The Indian Navy’s detailed requirements have not been shared.
Based on reports and analysis of their current capabilities, investments and
threat focuses, two things seems sure. The first is that P75I will have AIP
(air independent power). The second is that they would prefer a VLS to launch
Brahmos anti-ship missiles. Taken together, the P75I will have to be much
larger than previous Indian navy’s conventional submarines.
Both the AIP and VLS will present challenges and difficult
decisions. Like all major submarine projects, trade-offs will have to get made.
India has developed its own fuel cell AIP which it is planning to fit to the
current French designed Kalvari Class Submarines. This is a logical choice for
the P75I also, particularly from the perspective of indigenous industry.
However the Indian Navy is likely to be very interested in the AIP already
available with the designs. Incorporating the local AIP would increase
development risks, and close off opportunities to access better AIP systems.
The VLS will be a challenge because all the contenders are
relatively small boats. It is unclear how dependent the contract will be on a
VLS, or whether alternative missile options will be considered.
1.
Barracuda
Class Submarine: France’s Naval Group is believed to be offering a
diesel-electric version of their Barracuda nuclear submarine. The nuclear
version is already in service with the French Navy (Marine Nationale) as the
Suffren Class. Being from the same lineage as the Kalvari Class currently being
built in India, it can be seen as a strong contender. The diesel-electric
version could have some design features from the SMX-3.0 design. This was
exhibited at DEFEXPO in India in 2020. This may include the sail-mounted
hydroplanes (as opposed to hull mounted on Suffren) and AIP. The French AIP
system uses fuel-cells with a diesel reformer to eliminate the need for onboard
hydrogen storage. It has been shore tested for years. Perhaps the largest
design advantage of the Barracuda is simply its size. The hull diameter of
around 8.5 meters is the largest of the competitors. This should make it
comparatively less challenging to fit a VLS, even with the massive Brahmos
missile. The related SMX Ocean concept already has a VLS, and the baseline
Barracuda class can anyway launch MdCN land-attack cruise missiles. Other
noteworthy features of the French design are likely to include X-form rudders
and a pump-jet. This latter feature may also be of interest in India’s nuclear
submarine projects. We can speculate that French nuclear submarine technologies
and/or access to extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV) technologies,
may also be a factor. Naval Group recently revealed that they have had an XLUUV
demonstrator in the water since last year.
2.
DSME-3000:
South Korea’s Missile Submarine South Korea has recently spread its wings and
entered the submarine export game, selling boats to Indonesia. They are
understood to be proposing an export version of their home-grown KSS-III
design. This is a relatively large non-nuclear boat, likely second only to the
Barracuda. The type comes with German based fuel-cell AIP. The layout, with a
hull section essentially dedicated to AIP, suggests that it would not be too
challenging to swap it for the Indian alternative. And South Korea is ahead of
most countries in the race to fit lithium-base battery technology to
submarines. This promises to extend the endurance of submarines when running on
batterie. Naturally this may be attractive to the Indian Navy, even potentially
diminishing the importance of AIP. Its differentiating feature is that it
already comes with a six or ten round VLS. In South Korean service this is
expected to carry the Hyunmoo 4-4 missile, which is roughly equivalent to
India’s K-15 Sagarika but without a nuclear option. While exact dimensions and
weights are not available, this at least implies that it could accommodate the
similarly sized Brahmos. Carrying a VLS in such a small submarine likely needs
some trade-offs, like fewer weapons slots in the regular torpedo room. But
overall the South Korean design seems balanced and highly capable.
3.
Spain’s
New Entrant, S-80 Plus: Another new country to submarine exports, Spain’s
Navantia is offering a variant of their latest S-80 plus design. This is a
larger boat than the Scorpene design (per India’s Kalvari Class), but smaller
than the South Korean or French options. The AIP is a fuel-cell system with
bio-ethanol reformer. So like the French system there is no need for hydrogen
storage. Currently Spain’s S-80 Plus boats are not running with AIP, but the
system is being tested and should go to sea in the next few years. It is
unclear whether Navantia is proposing a VLS. The design was always intended to
be compatible with land-attack cruise missiles shot from the torpedo tubes.
4.
The
Russian Option, Amur: Essentially the export versions of the Lada Class, the
Amur family of submarines has been offered for several years. Russia already
has strong ties with the Indian Navy and some related Kilo Class submarines are
still in their service. The Amur shares some lineage to the Kilo but features a
single-hull configuration. Despite having the smallest hull diameter of the
contenders (1.5 meters less than the Barracuda), design models have frequently
shown a VLS. This seems to have been for smaller Kalibr sized weapons rather
than the Brahmos however. Another challenge for the Amur designs could be AIP.
Russia has yet to develop an AIP system for its Lada Class. Possibly the Indian
AIP system is key to the proposal. Like France, Russia may be seen as having a
‘home advantage’ because of the strong historic relationship. There have been
reports that Russia views this as an opportunity to joint-develop the next
generation of non-nuclear submarine. How this sits with other reports of the
same thing with China remains unclear.
Tejas clears IFR Certification, 7th
FOC aircraft ready
Tejas Mk1 fleet has now been cleared
to undergo air to air refuelling after it was granted certification for inflight
refuelling process after it demonstrated air to air refuelling in its extensive
trials since 2018.
Tejas Mk1 using hose and drogue
system mounted on the ilyushin IL-78MKI Tanker has cleared all trials and also
has demonstrated buddy-buddy aerial refuelling with Sukhoi 30MKI.
Cobham supplied refuelling probe was
first used on a modified limited series production aircraft ( LSP 8) aircraft
in 2018 when it begin series of “dry” contacts trials before the first fuel
transfer took place later in the same year.
All 16 final operational clearance
(FOC) Tejas Mk1 are being equipped with an inflight refuelling probe and
gradually it will also be equipped on 16 initial operational clearance standard
jets and will come as standard on all 73 Tejas Mk1A recently ordered by IAF.
LA-5023 (SP-27) that could be the 7th
final operational clearance (FOC) standard jet is currently being prepped for
its first flight. HAL is also in the process of carrying out final integration
on SP-28, SP-29, and SP-30, while SP-31, SP-32, and SP-33 are still on the
assemble rig.
HAL counting on HJT-36 success for
HTFE-25 Turbofan application
HALL has started groundwork to flight
certify the HTFE-25 engine before 2025 and is planning to start integration of
the engine possibly on the company owned Hawk-I AJT or on the Limited Series
Production HJT-36 aircraft in 2022 onwards.
HAL has been developing an HTFE-25, a
25 kilo Newton dry thrust Engine since 2013 and completed its first engine core
inaugural run in 2015. HTFE-25 once certified can be used on 5 tons weight
class aircraft in single engine configuration and on aircraft of up to nine tons
weight class with twin engine configuration.
HAL is planning to replace Russia’s
NPO Saturn supplied AL-55 (17.3 kilo Newton) turbofan engines that are
presently used to power HAL developed HJT-36 Intermediate Jet trainer aircraft.
HJT-36 Prototype is back in the air
after going through massive changes to the tail section so that it will be able
to clear spin trials that were one of the key criteria of the Indian Air Force before
it decides to rejoin the program and places orders for the jet.
In 2019, HAL had offered to develop
an afterburning variant of the HTFE-25 that could have lead to the development
of the HTFE-40 engine for which HAL had requested funds from the MoD-IAF so
that it can be used to power a small fleet of Jaguar strike aircraft.
Pakistan Army Formally Inducts
China’s ‘Most Powerful’ Main Battle Tank VT-4 Amid
Tensions With India
Pakistan Army has formally
commissioned VT4 main battle tank. The VT 4 will add to Pakistan’s defensive
capabilities amid simmering tensions with India.
The VT 4 is very similar to the Type
99G which is used by the Chinese Army, however, it has reduced capabilities in
terms of engines, guns and other combat capabilities.
The VT4 MBT is equipped with a fully stabilized
125mm smoothbore gun, The tank is capable of shooting armoured piercing fin stabilized
discarding sabot (APFSDS), high explosive anti-tank (HEAT).
It can carry up to four missiles
which have a range of 5000 meters. The tank is also equipped with a coaxial
12.7mm machine gun. The tank’s design has a striking similarity with the Soviet
era T-72.
