INS Shankush / Type 209 submarine

January 06, 2012: The Indian Navy's submarine arm is in a precarious situation. As the navy labours to keep its operational fleet seaworthy and fighting fit, the numbers game is beginning to get worrisome. At present the navy has 10 Soviet-vintage 877EKM Kilo-class and four German HDW Type 209 diesel-electric hunter-killer submarines, though only a maximum of eight are operational at any given time. With major delays in the Project 75 line building six Scorpène submarines, and the effort to freeze requirements for the follow-on Project 75I programme nowhere near completion, internal projections within the navy paint a worrying picture.

The six DCN designed Scorpène submarines being built under license at the Mazagon Dock Ltd are already three years behind schedule, and will begin deliveries only in 2015, completing deliveries in 2020. With negotiations on to equip Scorpene No. 5 and 6 with air independent propulsion modules for submerged longevity could involve further delays unless things fall into place quickly. Major teething troubles, mostly pertaining to the sourcing of local components and aggregates, meant that the license build programme has had a bumpy ride so far. Nevertheless, the navy is already thinking in terms of exploiting the Scorpène production line to build at least three more of the type, for a total fleet strength of nine Scorpène submarines. The navy feels this tie in with force level worries, and will also provide economy to the build programme as the government gets it act together on the follow-on programme.

The follow-on Project 75I (India) programme, which was accorded financial sanction in August 2010 by the Defence Ministry, is still to get off the ground, with the navy still fine-tuning a request for proposal based on feedback received in response to a request for information sent out a month later in September 2010. Sources reveal that the next-generation conventional license production line is proving to be a huge challenge, and that once the tender is ready to be floated, it will be one of the most rigorous ever. Submarines likely to compete for the massive contract, which could once again be expanded to nine submarines, instead of the stipulated six, include the CKB Rubin Amur 1650, the Fincantieri-Rubin S1000, Kockums Archer-class, Navantia S-80 and HDW Type 214. India's submarine building plan had laid down that at least one of the two production lines needed to be of Western technology, a clause inserted to offset Russian influence in ship-building at the time. While it was once almost a given that the follow-on line would go to the Russians, it is no longer definite.

India's indigenous submarine programme is a highly skewed one. It remains the only country that has begun by developing and building the most complex type -- a large nuclear powered ballistic missile boat for strategic deterrence, choosing to procure conventional attack submarines only through the license-build route. In December 2011, Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Verma said that India's under-trial boomer Arihant would sail out of its Visakhapatnam harbour into open waters for extensive sea trials by June this year. The space vacated by the submarine at the Shipbuilding Centre there will quickly be filled by a second hull for the next Arihant-class boat. The navy expects the first Arihant to enter service no later than 2013, though this may still be wishful thinking. Either way, the Arihant-class can’t be counted among the country's submarine arsenal per se, since its role is strategic nuclear deterrence and not sea denial, anti-ship/submarine ops, intelligence gathering, mine laying or extended patrol. However, a few weeks from now, India will welcome the INS Chakra, an 8,000-ton Russian Akula-II class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN, formerly K-152 Nerpa) into service on a ten year lease. While the submarine has been leased ostensibly as a test and training platform for sustained operations at sea, the Chakra will be capable of mounting extended patrol/intelligence gathering operations as well as anti-ship/submarine missions if necessary. In 2009, an internal study by the tri-services HQ Integrated Defence Staff noted that "The Government of India may consider expediting P 75 (I) through urgent issue of RFP so as to initiate indigenous production of a second line of SSK. The same study urges the navy and government to proceed with development of a nuclear-powered attack submarine, with an aim to launch a first type by 2020 -- there are no indications that the the government is engaged in any such programme yet.

The same study also noted that "The submarine arm of the nation has never been poised in such a vulnerable situation with regard to operational availability and strength. While infrastructure has been built up for adequate force levels, and training continues with legacy procedures, the force is currently at a highly precarious state, demanding urgent attention of the MoD/government. It is a matter of deep concern that in the next five years, India will have its lowest submarine capability in the history of the submarine arm."

The navy has put up a brave face and is making every effort to increase the availability of its 14 submarines, a monumental task given the constraints at both Mumbai and Visakhapatnam.