India’s Submarine Arm- The Road ahead

   Rollout of the First Kalvari class Submarine in Mumbai.

The 24^TH of August brought a nightmare of sorts for the Indian Navy as the Australian Newspaper released a set of 22000 papers with Technical & Operational details of the Scorpene class submarines currently in construction for the Indian navy at Mazagon Docks Mumbai. In Many ways the Submarine arm of the Indian Navy seems to be jinxed. In 1957, the then Defence Minister requested Lord Mountbatten, then the First Sea Lord, to provide India a target submarine which could be the oldest and cheapest available, he refused. In 1959 the Navy asked the UK for three operational submarines, this never happened as the UK refused the soft credit terms sought by India. The Navy finally got a Break when the Soviet Union came to our rescue and provided us India with eight Foxtrot class submarines between 1967 & 1974.

The jinx was not broken though and India was hit by a double Whammy in the 80’S First the HDW scam broke in 1987 which saw the much required class of six HDW type 209 submarines being acquired being reduced to four boats, then India had to prematurely return the Charlie class SSN it had leased from the USSR for 10 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union after it had only served the IN for a bare three years. Once again the Russians came to our rescue and the fleet was bolstered by 10 877EKM (KILO) class boats which were inducted between 1986 & 2000.This was followed by the Selection of the Kalvari (Scorpene) class boats in 2005, this project is currently running 4 years behind schedule and has just been hit by the Scorpene Leak as well.

An Indian Navy Kilo Class Submarine

This brings us to P75I after years of delays the DAC finally approved a sum of 53000 crores for the Purchase of Six advanced SSK units. The Catch this time was that much like the Kalvari class all 6 would be built in India with a strategic partner to be selected after due deliberation. This has since increased to an expected cost of over 60000 crores.

However the recent leaks beg the question why do we need to risk more leaks by foreign partners? Why can’t we build our own SSK? The Indian Navy already has a Submarine design Group within the directorate of Naval Design that has just designed the Arihant class of SSBN & is currently working on a domestic class of SSN. We also possess extensive literature & Blueprints for Both the HDW Type 209 7 the Scorpene class of Submarines that we can modify into our own SSK. Now if we actually design a domestic SSK the next question is how & Where it can be Built within India , what are the technologies required, how many of those technologies re available in country etc. Without going too much into details a SSK has a few basic components, these are:

1) Hull

2) Sonars

3) AIP

4) Combat & Control Electronics

5) Battery Packs

6) Primary Diesel Engine, Generator, Gear & Drivetrain

7) Torpedoes & Missiles (weaponry)

8) Anechoic tiles & Sound Insulation

I shall be listing out Indian Firms that can be employed for sourcing the parts listed above which can be used to build an Indian SSK.

L&T's massive yard at Katupalli                                            

 Hull-The are two parts to making a Submarine Hull, the first is the Metal & the second is the Fabrication of the Metal into a Hull capable of withstanding the extreme stress a Submarine has to undergo. The Metal will most likely be DMR292A Steel or the DMR249B Submarine Grade Steel developed in 2015 by SAIL At its Rourkela & Durgapur plants, Apart from This India has also made Titanium domestically which was used by the USSR for its ALFA class of SSNs during the Cold war. The Obvious candidates for fabricating a hull out of this metal are MDL & L&T .The Mazagon docks limited has had extensive experience in fabricating and building the Hulls of the HDW boats in the 1980’s and is building the Scorpene class Boats now. Larsen & Toubro has some of India’s most modern shipbuilding facilities at Hazira in Gujarat & Katupalli in Tamil Nadu. L&T has partnered HSL, DRDO & the Indian Navy in building the Hulls for the Arihant Class SSBN and hence has built a legitimate claim towards the fabrication of any future Indian SSK.

Sonar-The Obvious candidate for this would be the same USHUS Advanced Sonar currently in production at BEL Bangalore. As of today this Sonar is already operational in Five Sindhughosh class SSKs and the INS Arihant. Apart from this India also builds the Panchendriya Sonar System that is a unified submarine sonar and tactical control system & includes all types of sonar (passive, surveillance, ranging, intercept, obstacle avoidance and active).It is used for detecting and tracking enemy submarines, surface vessels, and torpedoes and can be used for underwater communication and avoiding obstacles. We can fully expect to see both these systems form the Sensory core of any future Indian SSK.

 A Mockup of the DRDO AIP Module

AIP-DRDO is currently developing at least two different types of AIP (Air independent Propulsion) Fuel Cell technologies called PAFC (Phosphoric acid fuel cell) & PEMFC (polymer electrolyte fuel cell). Both of these were supposed to be operational in time for installation into the Kalvari Class of Submarines, however Due to delays by DRDO these systems are only expected to be installed into the fifth & Sixth Kalvari class boats. As of now the Project is delayed and DRDO has yet to exhibit a working prototype.

Even if the DRDO AIP is not ready we have the option of purchasing commercially available AIP technologies from a variety of Global manufacturers if required.

Combat & Control Technologies-TATA Strategic Electronics Division partnered with DRDO to build the entire Control System for the Arihant SSBN project. Apart from this we also have the sonar ISS (Integrated Sonar Suite), state-of-the-art sonar developed for the 2^nd SSBN called Aridaman by NPOL DRDO. This is a unified submarine sonar and tactical control system & includes all types of sonar (passive, surveillance, ranging, intercept, obstacle avoidance and active). It also features an underwater communications system. The hull features twin flank-array sonars and Rafael broadband expendable anti-torpedo countermeasures.

       

  Exide Batteries Submarine Cell

Battery Pack-There are at least two Indian manufacturers that have a known capability to manufacture Batteries for Submarines .HBL Batteries headquartered at Hyderabad manufactures 12391 Wh to 40300 Wh Batteries for Submarines at its facilities in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand & Haryana. Exide Industries India also manufactures Batteries for Submarines and currently meets 100%of the requirement of Submarine batteries for the Indian Navy. Exide also has a license to export Submarine batteries and is currently closing an order for Submarine batteries to Algeria and Russia. Exide is on the list of registered Submarine battery vendors for the Russian Submarine Design Bureau RUBIN as well.

Primary Diesel Engine, Generator, Gear & Drivetrain-India has already developed an Electrical drivetrain along with the generator for the Arihant class SSBN, while the exact details of the system remain classified it is known that the entire system along with the Gearbox was supplied by Walchandnagar industries based in Maharashtra .This system can be adapted to create a drivetrain for an Indian SSK by replacing the Steam Turbine & Nuclear reactor with a Submarine Marine Diesel as the prime Mover. While there are numerous manufacturers of Marine Diesel Engines in India like Cummins India and Kirloskar Oil Engines Indian Limited, these manufacturers have never made an Engine for a Submarine. The good news is that Submarine Diesel Engines are commercially available from global manufacturers like MTU (which supplies the engine for the Arjun Tank) & Kawasaki.

Varunastra test firing         

Torpedoes & Missiles (weaponry)-DRDO has developed at least two domestic Torpedo weapons systems that could find their way onto a domestic SSK. The Shenya Advanced Light Torpedo and the Varunastra Heavyweight Torpedo have both been test fired from Ships however Submarine firings have yet to be undertaken. The Submarine variants of both these torpedoes are very much still in further development even as their ship borne variants are being inducted. Apart from these products from DRDO Anil Ambani has also tied up with Atlas GMbh of Germany to manufacture & sell the Seahake range of Torpedoes to the Indian Navy. We can fully expect all of these torpedoes to make it into the Arsenal of an Indian DE submarine. The candidates for Missiles that shall arm any future Indian SSK are the Russian Klub/Kalibr & the Indian Brahmos. The Submarines launched version of the Brahmos is still in development and has been tested once from a pontoon platform in 2013. A future Indian SSK shall in all probability be armed with a 16 cell VLS launcher developed within India by L&T for Brahmos Missiles while also carrying Klub/Kalibr units to be fired via Torpedo Tubes.

Anechoic tiles & Sound Insulation- Once again Technologies that were developed in India for the Arihant class of Submarines shall come in useful as any future Indian SSK can use the same anechoic tiles developed for the INS Arihant by a rubber vulcanizing firm based out of Mysore. The name of this firm remains classified.

India really needs to think whether it needs to spend 60000 crore rupees on purchasing SSK technology from a Foreign Partner when all of the components required can easily be found within Indian Shores. An internal Indian Navy assessment a few days ago found that it would Cost India only 35000 crores to develop & build six Indian SSNs. We should scrap the P75I and use the funds available to develop and manufacture an Indian SSN & an Indian SSK. The Indian Navy plans to deploy a fleet of at least 30-35 submarines by 2030 to counter the PLAN’s fleet of over 80 boats. These will be a mix of 4-6 SSBNs, 6 SSNs & 20 SSKs. The Navy will be left with only six compromised Scorpenes and 8 old KILOS in 2030 unless we start induction of more SSKs quickly. India can buy time to develop its own SSK by using 20000 crores for off the shelf purchase of some 10 improved Kilo class submarines(at 300$mil each) these will bolster numbers while we use the remaining 40000 crores to develop & build a fleet of Indian Submarines.