The Indian Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) has been awarded a contract by the MoD to build a single 75-metre long, 1,150-tonne littoral patrol vessel (LPV) which will be gifted by India to Mauritius/ The LPV, whose design is derived from the Indian Navy’s (IN) Project 25A Kora-class guided-missile corvette, will not be equipped with any guided-missiles, be it for air defence or for anti-ship strike. This latest order from the MoD is widely seen as an attempt to help GRSE survive financially until it bags the order to build three Project 17A guided-missile frigates (FFG) for the IN. The Project 17A FFG’s construction programme is already four years behind schedule, with even the FFG’s baseline design not being selected yet. The MoD has thus far only decreed that the first four Project 17A FFGs will be built by Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Ltd (MDL), with the follow-on three FFGs being built by GRSE. What is also confirmed is that these FFGs will all be equipped with the IAI/ELTA-built EL/M-2248 MF-STAR multifunction radar and Barak-2 MR-SAMs. While MDL has teamed up with Fincantieri of Italy to propose a design derived from the Italian Navy’s Andrea Doria guided-missile destroyer, GRSE has joined forces with France’s DCNS to propose a design derived from the Fremm-class FFG. GRSE is also proposing to the MoD that the Mistral-class LPD from DCNS be selected and ordered (three units) for the IN. If this were to happen, then GRSE is expected to build them under licence. For reasons best known to the MoD, India’s private-sector shipyards are being prevented from bidding for contracts related to the construction of principal surface combatants like guided-missile destroyers, FFGs, guided-missile corvettes and LPDs, even though their price quotes are far lower than those submitted by the MoD-owned shipyards.
Thus far, GRSE has delivered the 125.6-metre long, 4,000-tonne Project 16A Brahmaputra-class FFG (three built for the IN); 91.11-metre long, 1,350-tonne Project 25A Kora-class guided-missile corvette (four built); 91.11-metre long, 1,350-tonne Project 25 Khukri-class guided-missile corvette (two built); 124.80-metre long, 5,665-tonne LST-L (five built); 46-metre long, 260-tonne Trinket-class FPV (four built); 48.01-metre long, 288-tonne waterjet propelled FAC (seven built); 21.85-metre long Griffon 8000TD hovercraft (eight licence-assembled for the Indian Coast Guard, another eight being licence-assembled); ten 48.9-metre-long, 325-tonne Car Nicobar-class FACs for the Navy; and four 46-metre, 260-tonne Bangaram-class FPVs for the Navy). It is presently delivering fifty-eight 12-tonne High Speed FRP Interceptor Craft and 30 5.4-tonne high-speed FRP Interceptor Craft for the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, plus four 110-metre long, 2,500-tonne Project 28 ASW corvettes (each for Rs7 billion).
In another development, GRSE has successfully re-engined the first of three 57-metre long 589-tonne Project 1241.2 Molniya-2 ASW corvettes (INS Abhay, INS Ajay and INS Akshay) of the IN. Sea trials of the re-engined INS Abhay have been successfully completed, with work involving the replacement of Russia-made M504 radial engines with high-power-to-weight MTU-1163 engines. Work is now underway to procure through competitive tendering three sets of ultra-low-frequency towed-array sonar suites (from either ATLAS Elektronik of Germany or US-based L-3 Communications/Ocean Systems) for installation on board these three ASW corvettes.—Prasun K. Sengupta
Hi Prasun,
ReplyDeleteNice to see you posting again. Very nice.
I wanted to ask you about your Arjun Mk2 MBT article just a while ago. Why is the French Catherine FCS being used? Wasn't it supposed to be replaced by a BEL developed FCS?
Also, I think VK Saraswat had been on record before saying that the new Mk2 version will have 90% indigenous content, or at least more than Mk1. Any truth in that? Perhaps the foreign made components will gradually be replaced by local ones?
Lastly, since your post is of a naval nature, any information about India's future nuclear powered fleet submarines and a larger SSBN? L&T built a large submarine facility if I'm not mistaken, best make use of it.
To Parthvader: The THALES-built Catherine-FC is a thermal imaging camera, and not the DFCS. Regarding Dr Saraswat's assertions about the Arjun Mk2's indigenous content, I can only say that different persons have differing definitions and interpretations of issues like 'local content' and ToT. As for components of foreign origin being replaced by local ones, that is unlikely to happen even over the next decade, as the quantum of such components being installed on the Arjun Mk2 is too small, and consequently, no company--government-owned or private-owned--will find it economically viable to set up manufacturing facilities for such components.
ReplyDeleteAs for the IN's future fleet of SSBNs, there's nothing new to say as nothing much has been happening since the Arihant technology demonstrator was launched about two years ago. Only after the Arihant completes its sea trials will it be possible for the Navy to judge the vessel's viability. Then there is the problem of developing a suitable SLBM with an appreciable range to fit into the SSBN's pressure hull. All this takes a lot of time to reach fruition. It would have been far better if the Govt of India had first gone for a fleet of SSNs, instead of SSBNs. And much as I would like to see dedicated submarine-building facilities like that of L & T being put to good use, I'm afraid the Govt of India seems to be thinking differently and therefore it has time and again ensured that there's no level playing field between the MoD-owned shipyards and the private-sector shipyards. There's a lot of duplicity and hypocracy beiong enacted by the mandarins within the MoD and its Dept of Defence Production & Supplies, all of which has led to the deliberate sabotaging of the growth of India's military-industrial infrastructure.
Prasun..............can you find me a wall that i can bang my head on..........or, tell me a word way beyond 'frustrating'.........God... ...MOD must be by far the worst run Dept/and, what is AKA doing ??? Handling the MOD must be more difficult then fighting Pakistan/China combined !!!
ReplyDeleteCCS sanctioned 4 billion $ for 4 LPD and 4 maritime surveillance aircraft...Is IN looking for LPDs or they might go for Mistral ??
ReplyDeleteAlso last i heard Project 17A was supposed to be started in 2011 after the modernization of both GRSE and MDL are completed, is the modernization plan completed or not ??
Any reports on when this project will start and when will Project 15b is supposed to start??
Also can you tell us about the design of Project 15b and Project 28A corvettes and will these corvettes be like Visby?
To Anon@11:58AM: A word beyond 'frustrating'? Maybe 'pissed off'? The way I see it, the MoD's day-to-day functioning has been mismanaged since the day the present-day Defence Minister took over. It is a total administrative failure. How else can one explain the on-going 'tamasha' involving the re-tendering process for the Army's reqmt for 155mm/52-cal howitzers? All that the MoD had to do after Bofors' exoneration by the Supreme Court was to re-activate all the contractual agreements the MoD had struck with Bofors way back in the mid-1980s, by signing on a single piece of paper that would have legally extended the legality of the contractually binding provisions drafted and inked in 1986. That's all that was reqd, just one piece of paper. Instead, the MoD continues till this day to force Army HQ to repititively issue issue tenders and formulate new procurement processes when there's no need for them at all.
ReplyDeleteTo Anon@3:47PM: Legally, the MoD is reqd to issue tenders in which leading shipbuilders from France, Spain, the US, Italy, The Netherlands, Germany and South Korea would be asked to submit their bids for supplying the four LPDs.
ReplyDeleteThe modernisation plans for both GRSE and MDL have been completed. But that is totally unrelated to the task of selecting a frigate design proposed by foreign shipyards for the Project 17A FFG programme. The selection process could have been completed two years ago.
Project 15B DDG programme has already begun (it got underway two years ago). The superstructure design of the Project 15B DDG will be similar to that of the Project 15A DDG. Asw for how the Project 28 ASW corvettes will look like, kindly go to: http://trishulgroup.blogspot.com/2008/11/project-28-asw-corvette-detailed.html
Hi Prasun,
ReplyDeleteCan you please provide us your view on the PAKFA aircraft. Which one do you think is better the chinese J20 or PAKFA. Also can you write an article with the details on this topic.
Thanx Prasun for the reply...
ReplyDeleteI wanted to know changes in Project 28A which will not only employ modular shipbuilding but also the use of composite technology for superstructure just like Visby and the picture you showed was of project 28 under which 4 corvettes were supposed to be build and even last two will employ these features....
I wanted to know if there is any indication on any kind of changes in design on this next order of 7 corvettes, which is followed by present project 28 ???/
Also i just wanted to say without any disrespect that the modernization plan for MDL and GRSE has something to do with project 17a because after the modernization these two shipyards will be capable of modular shipbuilding and that is why these two are selected for project 17a....
Also is IN interested in LPDs or they have shifted their interest to LHD because i have read at some places that IN is now looking for LHD...?
Also are we going to see arjun mk2 in IA's latest exercise Vijaya Bhava??
To Anon@9:45AM: Only the last two of the four Project 28 ASW corvettes will make use of composites-based structures. The first two corvettes are of all-metallic construction and are overweight. The follow-on batch of seven corvettes have not yet been sanctioned. The modular construction process will be applied to all warships built in future by both MDL & GRSE. As of now the IN is focussing on LPDs, and not pure LHDs. The Arjun Mk2 MBT prototypes are still at Avadi, and are not taking part in any exercises.
ReplyDeletehi can u send me a picture of project 25A
ReplyDelete