India to hold Project-75 trials in Spain soon, to get 6 submarines by June-end

Representative image. PTI file

The Indian Navy will hold trials in Spain to test the critical equipment for its Project 75 India to get six advanced submarines by the end of this month, Spanish firm Navantia said.

In an exclusive interaction with ANI, Spanish shipyard Navantia's Chairman Ricardo Dominguez Garcia-Baquero said both the Spanish government and the Spanish Navy are very keen for the P75(I) project to progress and are willing to support it in all possible ways.

"This includes expeditious export clearance, signing an umbrella agreement with the Indian government, etc., like in the case of the recent Airbus deal (for supplying C-295 transport aircraft) with an Indian Company (Tata)," he said in an email reply.

On the present status of the field trial being conducted by the Indian Navy, the Navantia Chairman said the field evaluation trials of Air Independent Propulsion by the Indian Navy are planned in the last week of June at the Shipyard in Cartagena.

"Our partner L&T and we are fully geared up for these trials and we look forward to showcase our world class AIP technology to the Indian Navy," he said.

India is looking to acquire six advanced conventional submarines with an AIP system which would allow them to stay underwater for longer periods than the boats of previous generations without this system.

Along with the L&T and Navantia combine, German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Mazagaon Dockyards Limited together are also in the race for the over Rs 60,000 crore project.

Navantia has offered its S80 submarine design for the Indian Navy project, a submarine already commissioned to the Spanish Navy in 2023.

Navantia claimed that the important aspect of S80 design is the fact that it readily meets almost all the technical requirements of P75(I) without the need for any redesign."For example, the AIP designed for S80 produces more than 300 kW of power and, therefore, can be directly used for P75(I) without any redesign or scaling up. This would substantially mitigate major risks of the Indian Navy with respect to the P75(I) project," the Spanish firm said.

The Navantia Chairman stated that the S80 offered to the Indian Navy has the most contemporary features and incorporates the latest technologies such as Generation BEST AIP (Bio-ethanol stealth Technology) and advanced sensor suite."

L&T and Navantia have tied up with a partner to provide a proven Lithium-ion battery technology for the project. Navantia is fully committed to meeting the Transfer of Technology requirements outlined in the Request for Proposal as well as the stipulated Indigenous Content, in line with India's strategic goal to progressively achieve self-reliance in the Submarine domain," he stated.

Baquero further said that several top-ranking Spanish government officials have met their Indian counterparts over the last few months and expressed their unwavering commitment to this project.

Navantia Chairman said that the company has been in constant dialogue with their Indian suppliers and has even shared technical requirements of various equipment/systems to ascertain their technical capability.

"Our partner L&T is well known as a champion of indigenisation having led the indigenisation efforts across the defence sector over the past three decades," the firm said adding that they are confident that Navantia and L&T together would be able to comfortably meet the Indigenous content requirements.

Praising their partner L&T for work in submarines and other areas, the Navantia Chairman said the idea of the strategic partnership itself is towards developing the Indian Private Sector for manufacturing of major defence platforms and equipment."

Navantia believes the industrial partnership with L&T will not just meet the industrial requirements and the IN requirements, it opens opportunities to explore beyond submarines," he said.