Indian Navy to commission third Scorpene submarine at the end of 2020

According to the local press of India, the third Scorpene submarine, Karanj, will be delivered to the Indian Navy by December and all six submarine deliveries would be completed by 2022, Nicolas de La Villemarque, Vice President India, Asia and Pacific of Naval Group, said on Wednesday (5th Feb).

Mr. Villemarque said discussions were on to fit Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) modules on all Scorpenes beginning 2023. “The Scorpene submarine has the ability to be equipped with an AIP system. The first AIP will be equipped during the first refit of the first Scorpene,” he said in a conversation with The Hindu at Defexpo 2020, which began here on Wednesday.

Talks were underway with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and the Navy. A design agreement was expected to be signed with the DRDO by the year end, he stated.

Karanj was launched into water in January 2018 and is currently in advanced stages of sea trials. The first Scorpene, Kulvari, was commissioned in 2018 and it would go for a normal refit after six years in 2023, during which time time the AIP would be installed. Second Scorpene Khanderi was inducted in September last.

An indigenous fuel cell-based AIP module is currently under development by the DRDO. The project reached a milestone in October 2019 with the successful operation of a land-based prototype engineered to the form-and-fit of a submarine. The DRDO has expressed confidence that the module will be ready in time for installation on Kulvari.

An AIP module gives stealth and extended endurance to diesel-electric submarines by allowing them to stay submerged longer.

Mr. Villemarque said they would do design simulations to “work out the technicalities of the project which involves Jumboisation, the process of cutting, joining and putting various blocks together.”