Russia has offered India a proposal for co-designing and development of a new non-nuclear diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK) under the Project-75 (India) or P-75I program on the basis of an inter-governmental agreement which will based on the Russian Amur-1650 SSK.
These vessels are one generation ahead of the Russian Kilo-class which are operational with Indian Navy.
Further, this joint project will apparently involve a substantial Transfer of Technology (ToT) from Russia to India that would go beyond usual license-production agreements, and will have a localization level of up to 70-80 percent.
Previously, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in July 2017 had issued a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) for Project 75 (India)-class submarines, or P-75I worth Rs 43,000 Crore (US $5.4 billion) under the “Strategic Partnership” model.
The program involves acquisition of six conventional, diesel-electric attack submarines for the Indian Navy, which will also feature advanced capabilities – including Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP), ISR, Special Operations Forces (SOF), Anti-Ship Warfare (AShW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW), land-attack capabilities and other features.
All six submarines are expected to be constructed in India, under the Make in India initiative.
Reportedly, the response deadline of the RFP, which was initially scheduled for November 2021, was postponed to June 2022, and later again, to December 2022.
Besides Russia, Naval Group (France), Kockums (Sweden) and Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (Germany) are other contenders vying for the contract.
About Amur 1650 submarine – It is the next generation submarine compared to Kilo-class submarines that are in service with the Indian Navy.
Around 70 ships of the basic and upgraded design of Kilo-class have been already constructed and inducted into the Indian Navy, Russian Navy, and the Navies of other countries.
The weapon system onboard the Amur class is capable of guiding long-range weapons to both land and sea targets.
Besides, it is equipped with powerful torpedo-missile complex that makes it capable to strike both underwater and surface targets, as well as to attack land targets. Further, the ventilation and air conditioning systems are designed for tropical waters operations.
