Navy gets shipyard to build new subs

The Navy currently has 16 Russian and German origin submarines as against the sanctioned fleet strength of 24. Half of these will reach the end of their service life by 2012. In fact, the Navy still operates two Foxtrot submarines that were inducted in 1970's and have far surpassed their service lives. The mainstay of Navy's submarine fleet are the 10 Kilo Class boats, which are being slowly upgraded in Russia.

The Navy desperately needs new submarines but only six Scorpene submarines, the first of which will not enter service before 2012, are on order. A separate order for six more Scorpene boats, which will arrive after 2017, had been temporarily put off due to shortage of shipyards.

The Navy, sources said, had expressed its inability to find a shipyard for construction of a second line of submarines as all shipyards it has are fully booked. Scorpene submarines are being built at Mazgaon Docks Limited in Mumbai. With the Cabinet clearance given to the transfer of Vishakhapatnam's Hindustan Shipyard to Defence Ministry, the Navy's plans for building new submarines will now resume.

The Navy, which had sent out a Request For Information (RFI) for a new line of conventional submarines to manufacturers last year, is now expected to float a tender for procuring modern submarines to replace the ageing Russian fleet.

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