Indian consortium to build six submarines of Project 75(I).

Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (Midhani) have joined hands to form a consortium for building six conventional submarines under Project 75(I) as envisaged by the Ministry of Defence under the strategic partnership model.

Indian Navy Kalvari-class submarine (Picture Source: Life of Soldiers)

Representatives of HSL, BHEL and Midhani have signed an MoU in the presence of Rear Admiral LV Sarat Babu, CMD of HSL. The agreement between the three companies is a step to fulfil the ‘Make In India’ initiative of the government in the defence sector.

The agreement aims at harnessing the complementary expertise of the three companies and provide the country with a credible domestic alternative for the construction of submarines. The consortium will jointly stake claim with the Ministry of Defence for being considered a prospective bidder for the proposed P-75 (I) project of the Navy.

The Project 75I-class submarine is a follow-on of the Project 75 Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy. Under this project, the Indian Navy intends to acquire six diesel-electric submarines, which will also feature advanced air-independent propulsion systems to enable them to stay submerged for longer duration and substantially increase their operational range.

Project 75-I will probably have both vertical launched BrahMos for the sea & land targets and tube-launched torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare. The submarine should be capable of operating in open ocean and littoral/shallow waters in dense ASW and EW environments and able to undertake following missions, including anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, supporting operations ashore, ISR missions, and special force operations.