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India's submarine fleet

The Times of India 2013/08/

I

India has just seven to eight aging conventional submarines

India can now boast of just 8 aging conventional subs

Pak Has 5 New Ones, May Get 6 More; China’s Leagues Ahead

Rajat Pandit |TNN

Times of India 2013/08/20

New Delhi: If India goes to war today, it will have just seven to eight aging conventional submarines to deploy against enemy forces. This deeply blunts the country’s underwater combat edge against Pakistan, which already has five relatively new conventional submarines and is angling to get six more advanced vessels from China. Beijing, of course, is leagues ahead with 47 dieselelectric submarines and eight nuclear-powered ones.

The INS Sindhurakshak disaster last week, which blew a big hole in the Indian Navy’s operational capabilities, has further compounded the problems. Defence minister A K Antony admitted in Parliament on Monday that “extensive checks on weapon-related safety systems and audit of standard operating procedures (SOPs) on all operational submarines have been ordered’’.

The minister also confirmed the “explosion” on board INS Sindhurakshak was due to the “possible ignition of armament’’ in the vessel’s forward section. TOI had last week reported that “inadvertent mishandling of ammunition’’ on the submarine, which was all set to leave on an extended patrol with a full weapons load of 18 cruise missiles and torpedoes, had emerged as the most probable reason behind the sinking of the over 2,500-tonne submarine.

“The cause of ignition is, however, yet to be established. Visual and forensic examination would throw more light on the possible cause of ignition. This will be possible only after the submarine is afloat and de-watered,’’ said Antony.

The minister, however, did not dwell upon the fact that the Navy is left with only 13 aging diesel-electric submarines — 11 of them over 20 years old — due to political and bureaucratic apathy in pushing long-delayed submarine construction projects under his watch.

Four of the 13 submarines — nine Kilo-class of Russian origin and four HDW of German-origin — are undergoing “a long refit’’ to extend theiroperational lives. “Two kiloclass or Sindhugosh series submarines are at Hindustan Shipyard Ltd at Visakhapatnam, while two HDW or Shishumar-class vessels are at the Mumbai naval dockyard for the long refits,’’ said a source.

The Navy does have one nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra, taken on a 10-year lease from Russia last year, but it’s not armed with nuclear-tipped missiles due to international treaties. INS Chakra can serve as a deadly ‘hunter-killer’ of enemy submarines and warships with its 300-km range Klub-S landattack cruise missiles as well as other missiles and advanced torpedoes.

Pakistan Navy, incidentally, is the first force in the Indian Ocean region to have submarines equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP) in the shape of three French Agosta-90B vessels.

An ageing submarine fleet

The Times of India 2013/08/15 Aging subs going the MiG-21 way? Rajat Pandit | DEFENCE EDITOR

The Navy was to induct 12 new diesel-electric submarines by 2012, with another dozen to follow in the 2012-2030 timeframe. This was the 30-year submarine building plan approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) way back in July 1999. But the Navy has not inducted even one of the 24 planned submarines till now, and is forced to soldier on with just 14 aging conventional vessels.

Sources said INS Sindhurakshak, after the Aug 2013 accident, is “a clear write-off ’’. Of the 13 submarines left now, as many as 11 are over 20 years old. The setback comes when China and Pakistan are systematically bolstering their underwater combat capabilities, with the former being armed with over 55 submarines.

‘Aging underwater arm a worry’

The navy is steadily modernizing in the surface warship and aircraft arenas. But our aging and depleting underwater combat arm is a big worry. But it also must be kept in mind that INS Sindhurakshak’s accident is the first such incident we have had in over four decades of operating submarines,’’ said a senior officer.

India’s four German HDW or Shishumar-class submarines were inducted between 1986 and 1994, while eight of the 10 Russian Kilo or Sindhugosh-class vessels were inducted between 1986 and 1991. The last two Russian submarines — INS Sindhurakshak and INS Sindhushastra —were inducted in 1997 and 2000, respectively.

Even CAG reports have alarmingly held that the operational availability of the Indian submarines is as low as 48% due to the aging fleet and prolonged refit and life-extension programmes. With the design life of a submarine being 25-30 years, projections show just six-seven of the existing submarines will be fully operational by 2020.

Successive governments’ sheer inability to take decisions in time and gross project mismanagement — with inevitable huge cost escalations — has led to this dismal situation. The first of the six new Scorpene submarines being built at Mazagon Docks will be ready only by 2016-17 at the earliest, over four years behind schedule. The other five — under this Rs 23,000 crore programme called “Project-75” — are scheduled to progressively follow by 2020-21.

The next six of the remaining 18 submarines are yet to be even ordered. Despite being granted “acceptance of necessity” in November 2007, “Project-75India” to construct six advanced stealth submarines, armed with both land-attack missile capabilities and airindependent propulsion for greater underwater endurance, is still stuck in political apathy and red-tape.

Another critical concern is that the navy has rudimentary submarine rescue facilities. The force’s endeavour to procure two deep-submergence rescue vessels (DSRVs) or “mini submarines”, which “mate” with disabled submarines underwater to rescue trapped sailors from depths up to 610 metres, has been stuck for over 15 years.

The navy does have diving support ships like INS Nireekshak to help in such situations, but they are useful at relatively shallow depths.

SUB FLEET IN BAD SHAPE

By 2013, 63% of India’s subs eligible to be retired: CAG

11 of 13 remaining subs are over 20 years old. A sub is expected to have a life of about 25 years

Project of building six Scorpene subs already 4 years late

Building of 6 stealth subs yet to take off. It will take over 10 years for the first to roll out

Not even 1 new sub inducted despite 1999 plan of 12 new subs by 2012, another 12 by 2030

Even if some Scorpene subs are commissioned by 2020, India will be short of minimum 18 needed

INS SINDHURAKSHAK

Explosions within the ill-fated submarine led to its sinking in August 2013

1997 | Indian navy inducts INS Sindhurakshak, one of 10 in Kiloclass submarines bought from Russia between 1986 & 2000

February 2010 | Fire in its battery compartment kills one sailor

August 2010 | Submarine goes for re-fit to Russia’s Zvezdochka dock. Is equipped with cruise missile systems

Jan 2013 | Refit completed

April 27, 2013 | Sub reaches India

August 14, 2013 | Sub sinks following massive explosion and fire with [18] and officers trapped inside

The submarine had suffered two explosions in 2010 in which one sailor was killed and two others injured. The 2010 accident was caused by rising hydrogen levels while its batteries were being recharged. The Navy chief said on 14 Aug 2013 that the sub’s batteries had been charged three days before.

The $113m submarine had been upgraded at a cost of $156m

Sunken sub refit cost $156m

Sindhurakshak’s Upgrade Costlier Than Original Price Of $113m

Rajat Pandit TNN

The Times of India 2013/08/15

New Delhi: The refit expenditure on INS Sindhurakshak was much more than its original procurement cost. When it was inducted in December 1997, the ninth of 10 Kilo-class submarines to be inducted by the navy, INS Sindhurakshak cost $113 million.

The “mid-life medium refit-cum-upgrade” of the 3,000-tonne vessel, carried out between September 2010 and January 2013 at Severodvinsk in Russia, came at a price tag of $156 million. The submarine finally reached India on April 27 2013 after a long journey following the refit and sea-acceptance trials. Since then, it had also undergone certification by naval inspection authorities of the Western Naval Command.

Sources said the refit included integrating the Klub-S land-attack missile complex onto the submarine, basically upgrading the vessel from only being capable of firing torpedoes to also possessing the ability to fire missiles from the six tubes fitted on to the “boat’s nose”. The cruise missile, which has a strike range of almost 300-km, was supposed to be the deadly 3M-14E land-attack variant.

“Then, the Sonar USHUS, a CCS Mark-II communication suite, air-conditioning plants in the machinery and control rooms, among other things, were also fitted onto the submarine. Now, all that is sunk,” said a source.

Of the 10 Kilo-class submarines, only the last one, the INS Sindhushastra, had come with the “tube-launched missile capability” in July, 2000. The others, like INS Sindhuvijay, INS Sindhuratna, INS Sindhuvir and INS Sindhugosh, too, have been refitted with the Klub-S missiles in Russia over the last several years to make them “even more potent underwater weapons”.

There have been glitches during the upgrade programme. India, for instance, had earlier refused to take delivery of INS Sindhuvijay after the allimportant Klub-S missiles had failed to work in six consecutive test firings at the Barents Sea test range in September-November 2007.

INS Sindhurakshak, in particular, has also had its share of problems. On February 26, 2010 one sailor had been killed and another two injured during an explosion in the battery pit of the submarine at Vizag when its batteries were being re-charged. “The accident was due to high concentration of hydrogen gas in the third compartment of the battery,” said the source.

Nuclear submarines

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