Highlights Of SMM-PPP Seminar On Naval Military-Industrial Indigenisition

SMM India, a subsidiary of SMM Hamburg—the organiser of international maritime trade fairs—organised its third high-level seminar-cum-expo in Mumbai earlier this month, whose theme was: Promotion of Indigenisation Through Tie-ups Between the Customer, Foreign OEMs and Indian Companies. The 3^rd SMM India seminar-cum-expo also formed part of India’s 50th National Maritime Day Celebrations. Several interesting insights were provided by various industrial players as well as retired senior-level Indian Navy (IN) officials during the varied seminar sessions.

Perhaps the most far-reaching revelation to have emerged from the seminar concerned propulsion systems for the IN’s future principal surface combatants. The IN has finally zeroed in on integrated full-electric propulsion (IFEP) systems, starting with the six projected LPHs to be procured (two directly from a yet-to-be-selected foreign OEM, two to be licence-built by a MoD-owned shipyard and two to be licence-built by a private-sector shipyard). These LPHs, along with all other major warships to be acquired in future (including the 65,000-tonne CATOBAR IAC-2 but excluding the four Project 15B DDGs and seven Project 17A FFGs) will have IFEP systems. Present-day warships worldwide utilise a combined-diesel-and-diesel (CODAD), combined-diesel-and-gas (CODAG), combined-gas-and-gas (COGAG) or combined-diesel-Electric-and-gas (CODLAG) propulsion configurations. At cruising speeds a CODLAG system employs diesel generators to supply electricity to the electric motors that drive the propeller shafts. When high speeds are required, gas turbines engage the shafts via cross-connecting mechanical transmissions (gearboxes). In an IFEP system-equipped warship, on the other hand, there is no mechanical connection between the prime mover and shaft. Instead, both the gas turbines and diesels are configured as electricity generators. While the diesels provide the vessel’s base load electrical supply, including low-speed propulsion, the turbines are switched in for peak power. The benefits of IFEP include: flexibility in locating machinery (only the propulsion motor needs to be coupled mechanically to the shaft-line); fuel efficiency (when the warship is operated at part load); low noise and vibration; built-in redundancy (electrical machines may have more than one set of windings, fed from different sources, so power is still available if one set fails); reliability (a mean-time-between-failures of more than 100,000 hours); reduced maintenance costs (due, for instance, to the absence of gearboxes); and the scope for increased automation and reduced crew complement.

The IN’s six LPHs will employ fixed-pitch propellers. Controllable-pitch propellers and their associated complex hydraulics are not required since the motor, and thus the shaft, can be electrically reversed. However, the IN is against the procurement of podded propulsion systems—a point that could well go against the Mistral BPD-class LPH that DCNS of France is offering for the IN. It is thus widely expected that the IN will zero in on an IFEP system developed by UK-based but GE-led Converteam industrial consortium for not just the six LPHs, but also for the projected IAC-2 CATOBAR aircraft carrier.

Data On Indian Shipyards

Data On Indigenous & Foreign Contents Of S-2/S-3/S-4 SSBN Production Programme

Data On Indian Industry Involvement In

Scorpene SSK Construction

France-based NEREIDES, represented in India by Flash Forge, continues to be the sole supplier of all VLF reception systems (above) on board the IN’s Type 877EKM Kilo-class SSKs, Class 209/Type 1500 SSKs and in future the Scorpene SSKs.

Project 71/IAC-1/INS Vikrant

For the 39,000-tonne IAC-1 aircraft carrier, the IN has selected the Mk 7 hydraulic damping arresting system from the US Navy, while US-based Wire Rope Industries Inc will supply the arrester cables. Another US-based company, Engineered Arresting Systems Corp, will supply the arrester barriers. In contrast, INS Vikramaditya’s hydraulic damping arresting system was designed by Marine Engineering Research Institute and made by Proletarsky Zavod. Other hardware to go on board IAC-1 include twin side-mounted aircraft elevators and their chain-drives from UK-based MacTaggart Scott, while Wire Rope Industries will supply the ammunition hoisting elevators. The CBRN detection sensors will be supplied by US-based Bruker Daltonics, which has for the past decade supplied almost all the CBRN detection sensors for all three of India’s armed services (while the remaining have come from French OEMs).

For the projected IAC-2, the IN will most certainly opt for a US-origin IFEP system, Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS), as well as the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) system. 

Indian Industrial Involvement In Naval MRO & Naval Armament R & D Activities

More illustrations & narratives to soon follow.