Finally a govt. that shows some sense and decides that it won’t allow hard won technological experience to atrophy, the way it did after the HDW scam emerged in the 1980s.

Also makes a lot of sense to standardize on the Scorpene for most of the IN’s diesel sub requirements. With some of the older Kilos also slated to go for life extension refits, finally the IN’s submarine arm seems to be in a somewhat better state.

Scorpene subs to become IN’s mainstay

French Scorpenes will replace Russian Kilo class vessels as the mainstay of the Navy’s conventional submarine fleet in a few years. Mazgaon Dock Ltd., Mumbai, commissioned a second submarine assembly workshop on Saturday. Six Scorpenes are under construction in the first one.
Second workshop
“This second workshop will cater to building additional submarines as and when the government takes a decision. We will be in a position to quickly begin work once approved,” an MDL official said.

Having once abandoned the German HDW submarine line in the past, government sources said they were determined not to lose the technical expertise and skilled manpower gained from construction of the six Scorpenes. In view of that, the number of additional Scorpenes could go beyond nine, one official said.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who inaugurated the facility, said that overall level of indigenisation in the next line of submarines “must be substantially higher” compared with the Scorpenes which have around 35 per cent indigenous content.

He had already stated on several occasions that the government would order two or three additional Scorpenes to keep the production line running and maintain the force levels on the fleet.

The new assembly workshop built at a cost of Rs.153 crore is a pre-engineered building structure to handle construction of five submarines simultaneously, MDL officials said. It can be used to construct additional Scorpenes or the new line of submarines under Project-75I as and when it is selected.
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Expect the overall fleet of Scorpenes in the IN to grow beyond 9 subs to around 12 or so..new AIP should be introduced into the last 2 Scorpenes out of the 6 originally ordered and then become standard equipment on the rest of the Scorpenes built..also, a new land-attack missile is also to be introduced on the Scorpene.

Parrikar hints at follow on Scorpene buy for India

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“We are considering follow-on orders for some more [Scorpenes], but we will tweak these requirements to suit the navy’s operational needs.”

A senior IN officer who was at Kochi ‘s commissioning ceremony told IHS Jane’s that Parrikar had “signalled” a follow-on order for more Scorpenes fitted with air-independent propulsion (AIP) and land-attack missiles.

The officer added that there was a “strong possibility” the new submarines would be built under a joint venture (JV) between MDL and France’s DCNS under an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) as part of the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
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Parrikar does not want MDL’s submarine building skills to atrophy, as they did following the assembly by MDL of INS Shankul , the second German HDW Type 209/1500 SSK, which was commissioned in 1994.

Until Project 75 began in 2005, MDL’s submarine building facilities had remained idle, eventually disintegrating as specialised workforce retired or took up alternative employment. IN officials describe this loss of expertise as a “lost decade” in submarine building.

Parrikar also said that the IN’s indigenous SSK construction programmes would henceforth remain “confined” to MDL and one private-sector “strategic partner”.

Besides MDL, the IN has shortlisted four public- and private-sector shipyards as potential bidders for its long-postponed INR5000 billion (USD7.69 billion) Project 75I (India) programme to build six more SSKs.
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