"WE CAN PROPOSE MODERN SUBMARINES WITH IMPROVED TECH"

Naval Group has already, in P75 programme, achieved a high level of indigenisation through transfer of technology and has created a strong industrial ecosystem of MSMEs as suppliers, says NICOLAS DE LA VILLEMARQUE Naval Group, in this one-on-one with GEOPOLITICS

When are the last two submarines of the P-75 programme expected to be delivered? In 2021, it was exciting to witness the commissioning of two submarines of Indian Kalvari-class based on Scorpene design, INS Karanj on March 10 and INS Vela on November 25. The fifth submarine is finalising its sea trials and should be delivered soon. We expect the sixth one to be delivered by 2023.

How does Naval Group intend to be part of indigenous warship building programmes and those of other naval vessels? Considering Indian Navy’s experience and existing infrastructure at its naval bases, Naval Group is already providing adapted services with aim of optimising availability of P75 submarines at sea. We are also training our local teams under supervision of experts from maintenance domain to perform critical tasks on-board the submarines in India.

We are proposing to the navy, in the frame of the HWT RFP, the F21 torpedo, the latest generation HWT developed for the French Navy for its latest SSN submarines, with indigenous content.

The Indian Navy has an ambitious modernisation programme and Naval Group would like to support that vision by helping Indian shipyards to build modern platforms. Naval Group is interested in supporting the Indian shipyards in building future Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC)-2, the landing platform dock and other future naval platforms with high-end military requirements and performances.

In addition, we are in discussion with Indian industry for latest simulators and tools for training and maintenance of P75 submarines.