Request for Proposals for Indian Navy Next Generation Submarines by 2011-end

(Indiadefense): Press Trust of India reports that the Indian Navy / Ministry of Defence will issue a global tender inviting proposals for procuring six next generation submarines by the end of 2011.

The news agency quoted Indian Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma who was speaking on the sidelines of the Submarine Seminar:

"The government has cleared Project-75 India which is the next lot of six submarines... At the moment we are going with the Request for Information (RFI) process, I hope within this year we would be able to push off the tender"

"It will be a different boat in the sense that we are revising its Qualitative Requirements. Along with better sensors it will also have better hiding capability, improved detection range and combat management system."

The Project-75 is a follow-up of the Scorpene submarine project, six of which are being built by the Mazgaon Dockyards Limited (MDL) under a Rs 20,000 crore deal with French company DCNS. The Indian Navy is planning to induct over 12 submarines in the next 10-12 years. The plans have also suffered a setback in view of the delays in the construction of the Scorpenes in Mumbai.

He said the Navy would go for the Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems for the submarines, which would enhance their capability of remaining submerged in water for a longer time period. On the weapon systems to be put on the next line of underwater vessels, Verma said Navy was planning to use a mix of indigenous torpedoes along with the missiles which are being deployed on the Scorpene submarines.