NEW DELHI: India has moved one step closer to having its conventional diesel-electric submarines equipped with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology, which will improve their underwater resistance and stealth, even as the third Scorpene submarine is ready to go. be commissioned in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The DRDO said Tuesday that it had achieved “an important milestone” in the development of the indigenous AIP system by testing its terrestrial prototype. Developed by DRDO’s Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) with support from industry partners L&T and Thermax, the AIP system was operated in endurance mode for 14 days and in full power mode for two days.
The 270 kilowatt fuel cell-based AIP system will begin to progressively modernize on Scorpene submarines, which will involve adding an additional hull section to each ship, after the first arrives for a maintenance and overhaul upgrade after 2023- 2024.
There is some concern about the huge delay in the AIP project, which was originally scheduled for completion in June 2017 after being sanctioned in 2014 at an initial cost of Rs 270 million.
Unlike nuclear submarinesWith virtually unlimited underwater endurance, diesel-electric boats have to surface or snorkel every few days to obtain oxygen to recharge their lead-acid batteries.
But those equipped with AIP can remain submerged for longer periods to significantly increase their stealth and combat capabilities. However, some countries like Japan are already moving towards high-capacity lithium-ion batteries to eventually replace the AIP systems of their conventional submarines. The United States, of course, operates only nuclear-powered submarines.
The DRDO, for its part, said that while different types of AIP systems are being applied internationally, the fuel cell-based NMRL is “unique” as hydrogen is generated on board. “The AIP system has now reached the maturity stage for installation on destination vessels,” said an official.
The development comes even as the third Scorpene submarine will be commissioned as INS Karanj on Wednesday. Under the ‘Project 75’ of more than 23,000 million rupees underway at the Mazagon docks for the construction of six Scorpene submarines of French origin, the Navy has commissioned two vessels, INS Kalvari and INS Khanderi, up to now.
The fourth submarine called Vela, which was launched in May 2019, has begun its tests at sea, while the fifth, Vagir, was launched last November. The sixth, Vagsheer, in turn, is currently in an advanced stage of construction.
Although the Scorpene project has faced huge cost overruns in time and costs, it is critical to the Navy, as it currently only has 12 other aging diesel-electric subs, and only half of them are operational at any one time.
India also has two nuclear-powered submarines, INS Arihant and INS Chakra, but the latter does not have nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles because it has been leased from Russia.
India needs at least 18 conventional submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN) and four nuclear-powered submarines with nuclear-tipped missiles (SSBN).
As previously reported by TOI, the Ministry of Defence It is now also preparing to formally launch the long-pending project of more than Rs 42,000 crore to build six new-generation stealth submarines with foreign collaboration domestically.
Under this ‘Project-75 India’, the six new submarines will have land attack and AIP cruise missiles. But it will take nearly a decade from now for the first such submarine to be deployed.
.
