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Josy Joseph in New Delhi
After a prolonged delay in its submarine fleet expansion, the Indian Navy has finally decided to induct the French-made Scorpene.
The diesel-powered subs will help India make a "quantum jump" over Pakistan's French-made Agosta class submarines, naval officers said.
The Scorpene was developed in the 1990s and is far more advanced technologically than the Agosta. It will, however, have on board the same Exocet missiles that the Agosta carries. The Exocet has a range of about 150km. Further, both subs are built by the same French company, DCN.
According to a senior naval official, the defence ministry has finalised details of the purchase and forwarded the file to the department of defence production. The department, through Mazagon Docks Limited, will negotiate with the French on the technical details of the purchase.
According to available information, the Indian Navy will buy at least four Scorpene submarines, with the first one coming from France. From the second onwards, CKD kits will reach Mazagon in Bombay, where they will be assembled.
There is, however, a section in the defence ministry that believes that even the first submarine should be built at Mazagon Docks. A final decision is yet to be taken in this matter.
The long-awaited decision to purchase the Scorpenes will kick off the navy's ambitious Project 75 for inducting 24 submarines in three decades and revive the submarine-building facility at Mazagon Docks. The dockyard's facilities have been lying idle since building two HDW submarines more than a decade ago.
The Scorpene, those in the know say, will give India a tactical advantage over Pakistan. Pakistan had acquired its Agostas in late 1999, thus becoming the first country in the subcontinent to acquire the capability of launching missiles from a submarine.
The Scorpene "is a very silent platform, and vintage '90s", remarked a senior naval officer, pointing out that it is a generation ahead of the Agosta.
Twelve of the 24 submarines to be constructed under Project 75 are to be built at Mazagon Docks. These will all be Scorpenes. At every stage, technical upgradations will be incorporated into the submarines.
The other stream of 12 submarines is yet to be decided.
At present the Indian Navy has 17 submarines -- four Russian Foxtrot-class diesel-electric subs, nine Russian Kilo-class subs, and four HDW-type Shishumar-class subs -- but this fleet would have been reduced to 10 by 2010 if no new acquisitions were made.
The navy's strategic review points out that to maintain a force level of 20 conventional submarines, at least one new sub has to be added every year.
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