Atlas Elektronik Advanced Towed Array Sonar
On November
12, without announcement or fanfare, the ministry of defence (MoD) signed a
small contract with enormous implications for itself and the Indian Navy. This
formalized the purchase of six advanced towed array sonar (ATAS) systems from
Atlas Elektronik, the German naval systems giant, for just under Euro 40
million (Rs 306 crore).
Without
ATAS, all the warships the navy has built and bought since the 1990s --- each
costing a few thousand crore and crewed by a couple of hundred sailors --- would
be sitting ducks in war. Enemy submarines, lurking unseen 50-80 kilometres away,
could leisurely torpedo Indian warships.
So vulnerable
has been India’s fleet that, when INS Vikramaditya, the navy’s new aircraft
carrier, was sailing home from Russia, it was escorted through the Arabian Sea
by several Indian warships. There was no certainty that Pakistan’s Agosta 90B
submarines could be detected by sonar systems other than ATAS.
All that
protects India’s 25 latest frontline warships from enemy submarines is a
relatively ineffective Passive Towed Array Sonar (PTAS), and an indigenous
hull-mounted sonar called HUMSA.
So important
is the ATAS contract that the MoD abandoned even the pretence of
indigenisation. Atlas Elektronik will build all six ATAS systems in Germany, and
has been exempted from offsets.
ATAS
overcomes the “temperature gradient”, since it is towed by a cable that extends
deep below the surface, into the cooler layers where submarines lurk. With the
sensors themselves in the colder water layers, there is no “temperature
differential”. Even the faintest return signal from a submarine is detected.
The navy will fit ATAS externally onto the rear of its
warships, which have been built for this reason with an empty compartment at
the rear.
With this
contract, Atlas Elektronik has taken pole position for supplying the navy a
range of high-end sonars. Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), which is required to
build ten ATAS with foreign partnership, has been encouraged by the navy to tie
up with Atlas so that sonar equipment is standardised across warships.
BEL is
learnt to be in discussions with Atlas for building ten ATAS for three
Shivalik-class frigates (INS Shivalik, Satpura and Sahyadri), three
Kolkata-class destroyers (Kolkata, Kochi and Chennai), and four Kamorta-class
anti-submarine corvettes (INS Kamorta, Kadmatt, Kiltan and Kavaratti).
That leaves
20 warships that will remain in naval service for some years. These include:
three aircraft carriers (INS Vikramaditya, Vikrant and Vishal); three Brahmaputra
class frigates (INS Brahmaputra, Betwa and Beas); three Talwar-class follow-on frigates
(INS Teg, Tarkash and Trikand); four Project 15-B destroyers (unnamed, under
construction); and seven Project 17-A frigates (unnamed, contract being negotiated).
Given its
first-mover advantage, the infrastructure and partnerships it will build and
its already demonstrated price advantage, Atlas hopes to supply sonar systems for
these and for other smaller surface warships and submarines. In April,
the MoD tendered for 16 Anti Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASWC),
which need sophisticated sonar with electronically controlled beams.
Atlas
Elektronik sources say they are eager to establish a joint venture company with
either BEL or an Indian private sector company to build sonars in India. That
would grant majority ownership of 51 per cent to the Indian entity.
ATAS import
has been blocked since the mid-1990s because the Defence R&D Organisation
(DRDO) was developing an indigenous ATAS called Nagan. In 2012, the Nagan
project was officially shut down and work began on another system called ALTAS.
With this making slow progress, the DRDO finally okayed import.
In November
2012, two years ago, Atlas was declared the lowest bidder. That was followed by
a string of complaints to the MoD against Atlas, apparently motivated, since
the MoD found no wrongdoing. Even so, with the ministry painstakingly investigating
every complaint, each caused a 3-4 month delay. Earlier this year, with the
elections impending, the United Progressive Alliance decided to leave the
signing to the next government.
Atlas
Elektronik is owned 51 per cent by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH (KMW) and 49 per
cent by Airbus Defence & Space.
- Ajai shukla
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