BDL Sets Sights on Global Market as Varunastra Torpedo Deliveries to Indian Navy Conclude

Following the successful completion of all Varunastra torpedo orders for the Indian Navy, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) is actively exploring export opportunities for this indigenously developed anti-submarine weapon. In a recent interview with Bharat Shakti, Chairman of BDL A. Madhavarao confirmed that.

The Varunastra, a 533mm heavyweight torpedo, is a product of collaboration between BDL and the DRDO's Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL). With its advanced features, including an active-passive acoustic homing system, a powerful 250 kg high-explosive warhead, and selectable speed modes, the Varunastra has proven its effectiveness in anti-submarine warfare.

Having fulfilled the Indian Navy's requirements for 136 Varunastra torpedoes, BDL is now confident in the torpedo's export potential. The company believes that the Varunastra's combination of cutting-edge technology, competitive pricing, and proven performance will make it an attractive option for navies worldwide seeking to enhance their anti-submarine capabilities.

The decision to pursue exports also reflects the Indian government's broader push to promote indigenous defense products in the global market. With the Varunastra, BDL aims to showcase India's growing expertise in developing and manufacturing advanced defense technologies.

 

[Anant]

Major problem here: The numbers don't add up in a sensible manner.

The Varunastra is used by the Visakhapatnam-, Kolkata-, Delhi-, and Rajput-class destroyers, the Nilgiri-, and Talwar-class frigates, and the Kamorta-class corvettes. That comes to a grand total of 156 torpedo tubes. Even if we do not count the Rajputs, that comes to 141 torpedo tubes for the Varunastra.

The two orders mentioned here add up to 136 torpedoes. Does this mean we do not even have enough torpedoes to fill all our torpedo tubes? What about reserves? If this hasn't been factored in (by some miracle), that needs to be done asap, and sufficient reserves need to be built up.

You can't wait for torpedo deliveries in times of war. Just look at the US wait for the Mk 14 torpedo in WW2.

 

[Pink Panther]

Then why did M0di go to Italy and talked about Blackshark?.

 

[GMR]

Then why did M0di go to Italy and talked about Blackshark?.

Difference is ship launched & sub launched..

 

[Deepak Hegde]

Major problem here: The numbers don't add up in a sensible manner.

The Varunastra is used by the Visakhapatnam-, Kolkata-, Delhi-, and Rajput-class destroyers, the Nilgiri-, and Talwar-class frigates, and the Kamorta-class corvettes. That comes to a grand total of 156 torpedo tubes. Even if we do not count the Rajputs, that comes to 141 torpedo tubes for the Varunastra.

The two orders mentioned here add up to 136 torpedoes. Does this mean we do not even have enough torpedoes to fill all our torpedo tubes? What about reserves? If this hasn't been factored in (by some miracle), that needs to be done asap, and sufficient reserves need to be built up.

You can't wait for torpedo deliveries in times of war. Just look at the US wait for the Mk 14 torpedo in WW2.

Well pointed out. For sure, we are well short changed for torpedoes, even ship launched, that is. The situation for sub lunched is perhaps the worst. We probably don't have any heavy torpedoes for the Scorpenes at all as yet. In-spite of all the noise with Italy, noting concrete is in hand as yet.

 

[amerjit johal]

Then why did M0di go to Italy and talked about Blackshark?.

How do you know he talked about Blackshark?
Maybe he just fancied some spagetti and a chat with Giorgia.

 

[NSR]

73+63 = 136.
Too few to arm all warships and patrol boats.
Order in hundreds to safeguard Indian warships and stop the export business talks until the right numbers reached.

Also India badly needs torpedoes for Scorpene submarines.
They are originally hard-wired for Italian Blackshark torpedoes so PM should do something during his upcoming visit to Italy during G7 meeting there.

 

[Pink Panther]

How do you know he talked about Blackshark?
Maybe he just fancied some spagetti and a chat with Giorgia.

There was an article here.

 

[Anant]

Well pointed out. For sure, we are well short changed for torpedoes, even ship launched, that is. The situation for sub lunched is perhaps the worst. We probably don't have any heavy torpedoes for the Scorpenes at all as yet. In-spite of all the noise with Italy, noting concrete is in hand as yet.

Agreed. I haven't even added any submarines into that count, even though some of our submarines can, atleast in theory, fire the Varunastra.

 

[desigandu]

Of course we have a capacity issue with numbers - why is the order size so low. Besides numbers my question is how does Varunashtra compare with black shark and F-21 heavy torpedos, in terms of capability and also compatibility with Scorpenes and our future SSKs…and is there an improved version being developed?

 

[amerjit johal]

There was an article here.

And you believe every article.

 

[Anant]

73+63 = 136.
Too few to arm all warships and patrol boats.
Order in hundreds to safeguard Indian warships and stop the export business talks until the right numbers reached.

Also India badly needs torpedoes for Scorpene submarines.
They are originally hard-wired for Italian Blackshark torpedoes so PM should do something during his upcoming visit to Italy during G7 meeting there.

On top of that, I did some calculations, and found that we have atleast 141, and up to 156, torpedo tubes on warships currently in service or under construction that are planned to carry the Varunastra. That means the present order is not even sufficient to fill all these tubes, let alone have reserves.

We need a large reserve without any shadow of doubt. Maybe 500-1000 torpedoes would be a good number to have for reserve (so 650-ish to 1150-ish in total), although it would depend more on BDL's production capabilities.

 

[desigandu]

Major problem here: The numbers don't add up in a sensible manner.

The Varunastra is used by the Visakhapatnam-, Kolkata-, Delhi-, and Rajput-class destroyers, the Nilgiri-, and Talwar-class frigates, and the Kamorta-class corvettes. That comes to a grand total of 156 torpedo tubes. Even if we do not count the Rajputs, that comes to 141 torpedo tubes for the Varunastra.

The two orders mentioned here add up to 136 torpedoes. Does this mean we do not even have enough torpedoes to fill all our torpedo tubes? What about reserves? If this hasn't been factored in (by some miracle), that needs to be done asap, and sufficient reserves need to be built up.

You can't wait for torpedo deliveries in times of war. Just look at the US wait for the Mk 14 torpedo in WW2.

How many in reserves is typical - say 5X or 10X???

 

[NSR]

On top of that, I did some calculations, and found that we have atleast 141, and up to 156, torpedo tubes on warships currently in service or under construction that are planned to carry the Varunastra. That means the present order is not even sufficient to fill all these tubes, let alone have reserves.

We need a large reserve without any shadow of doubt. Maybe 500-1000 torpedoes would be a good number to have for reserve (so 650-ish to 1150-ish in total), although it would depend more on BDL's production capabilities.

We are on the cusp of getting many new generations of P-18 based Destroyers and Frigates, ASW Corvettes, New Generation of Patrol Boats, etc
So we need to make many more hundreds of them.

 

[Anant]

Of course we have a capacity issue with numbers - why is the order size so low. Besides numbers my question is how does Varunashtra compare with black shark and F-21 heavy torpedos, in terms of capability and also compatibility with Scorpenes and our future SSKs…and is there an improved version being developed?

Agreed, Sir. Please refer to my comment here where I have done some calculations and come to the conclusion the present order isn't even sufficient to fill all the torpedo tubes on ships supposed to carry the Varunastra, let alone have any reserves.

Coming to the Black Shark and F21 vs the Varunastra, all three torpedoes are roughly comparable with some trade-offs here and there, though the Varunastra is maybe just a tad below the other two.

Oh, and I am not aware of any improved version in the works. There may be something, considering the small order size, but it hasn't been public, atleast.

 

[Anant]

How many in reserves is typical - say 5X or 10X???

As far as I know, most Navies keep a factor of 4 to 7 for reserves, depending on production capabilities and how much the torpedo is expected to be used. For the Varunastra, that translates to roughly 550-1000 torpedoes in reserve plus the 140 or so on the ships.

 

[desigandu]

Agreed, Sir. Please refer to my comment here where I have done some calculations and come to the conclusion the present order isn't even sufficient to fill all the torpedo tubes on ships supposed to carry the Varunastra, let alone have any reserves.

Coming to the Black Shark and F21 vs the Varunastra, all three torpedoes are roughly comparable with some trade-offs here and there, though the Varunastra is maybe just a tad below the other two.

Oh, and I am not aware of any improved version in the works. There may be something, considering the small order size, but it hasn't been public, atleast.

Thanks…How compatible is varunashtra with our current and potentially future SSKs.

 

[Pink Panther]

And you believe every article.

Then how else do we know, we have to take everything that comes in News media, with a truck load of salt, as we can't go to Italy to enquire about that in person.

 

[Anant]

We are on the cusp of getting many new generations of P-18 based Destroyers and Frigates, ASW Corvettes, New Generation of Patrol Boats, etc
So we need to make many more hundreds of them.

Very true, Sir. Very true.
However, the ASW-SWC and the NGOPVs will not carry these heavyweight torpedoes. The ASW-SWC will carry lightweight TAL Shyena torpedoes, while the NGOPVs will not carry ASW torpedoes at all.

That said, we do have the NGMV and NGC corvettes, Project 17B frigates, MRSV, and other projects in the pipeline, besides all our current and planned submarines (which I haven't even factored into the calculations yet since it isn't entirely clear which of our submarines can fit the Varunastra).

Unless there is some new variant in the works which is expected to be procured in significantly larger numbers, we probably need to scale up our inventory by 6-10 times.

 

[desigandu]

Agreed. I haven't even added any submarines into that count, even though some of our submarines can, atleast in theory, fire the Varunastra.

Then the order size with reserves should have been 1000, but given the capacity of 12-15 per year a tall order…

 

[Anant]

Thanks…How compatible is varunashtra with our current and potentially future SSKs.

That is what I am not sure of, Sir. The Varunastra is longer than the Type 53 torpedoes used on the Kilo-class and the SUT and DM2A4 torpedoes used on the Type 209-1500 and Kalvari-class.

Now, whether those submarines can fire the Varunastra is not something I am sure of, which is why I didn't include SSKs in those calculations. As for future SSKs and SSNs, we can and should plan for these submarines to be able to fire the Varunastra.

 

[Anant]

Then the order size with reserves should have been 1000, but given the capacity of 12-15 per year a tall order…

Given an order of 500 or so torpedoes, BDL should be able to scale up production to 50+ torpedoes a year, which would allow for this order to be completed in another 10-12 years. Give them a 1000 torpedo order, and they'll probably be giving the US and China a run for their money when it comes to torpedo production rates.

 

[Bhishma]

We need to accommodate this in Su30. With the evolving ASW strategies, we will be having sensors on a wide area. So we will be detecting the subs quite far from the shores - like 900km. We can employ Su30s to carry the torpedo and deliver it. The dimensions are smaller/lighter than Brahmos. Definitely possible. It will be a cheaper option than SMART. So if China is running around with their subs in IOR, the skies will be pretty much unchallenged. We can deliver this & intercept them from a far distance.

 

[ASHOK CARROL]

Major problem here: The numbers don't add up in a sensible manner.

The Varunastra is used by the Visakhapatnam-, Kolkata-, Delhi-, and Rajput-class destroyers, the Nilgiri-, and Talwar-class frigates, and the Kamorta-class corvettes. That comes to a grand total of 156 torpedo tubes. Even if we do not count the Rajputs, that comes to 141 torpedo tubes for the Varunastra.

The two orders mentioned here add up to 136 torpedoes. Does this mean we do not even have enough torpedoes to fill all our torpedo tubes? What about reserves? If this hasn't been factored in (by some miracle), that needs to be done asap, and sufficient reserves need to be built up.

You can't wait for torpedo deliveries in times of war. Just look at the US wait for the Mk 14 torpedo in WW2.

- Hundreds of Russian CET -53 and Test -65 Torpedoes are in inventory Acquired in 80, 90 ,2000,2010 .Having shelf lives the components , batteries are replaced and again made usable .

 

[ASHOK CARROL]

Well pointed out. For sure, we are well short changed for torpedoes, even ship launched, that is. The situation for sub lunched is perhaps the worst. We probably don't have any heavy torpedoes for the Scorpenes at all as yet. In-spite of all the noise with Italy, noting concrete is in hand as yet.

SUT german torpedoes are still in service

 

[Anant]

We need to accommodate this in Su30. With the evolving ASW strategies, we will be having sensors on a wide area. So we will be detecting the subs quite far from the shores - like 900km. We can employ Su30s to carry the torpedo and deliver it. The dimensions are smaller/lighter than Brahmos. Definitely possible. It will be a cheaper option than SMART. So if China is running around with their subs in IOR, the skies will be pretty much unchallenged. We can deliver this & intercept them from a far distance.

The Varunastra has a 50 km range. By the time the Su-30MKI gets close enough to launch the torpedo, it would have been shot down.

Let's not try to go back to the Second World War period and re-invent the torpedo bomber. Missiles are much more effective from aircraft.

 

[Anant]

- Hundreds of Russian CET -53 and Test -65 Torpedoes are in inventory Acquired in 80, 90 ,2000,2010 .Having shelf lives the components , batteries are replaced and again made usable .

That is what I feel as well, Sir. However, those torpedoes are also used by the submarines, and as we have seen in the past, old munitions do seem to be very liable for decay (referring to Sindhurakshak and the loss of the Kursk here). We may have those torpedoes today, but how many of them are readily available for medium-to-long-term reserve?

 

[Anant]

SUT german torpedoes are still in service

Sir, the SUT torpedoes are only used by us from submarines, not surface ships. Granted, they help with the Type 53 torpedo reserves, but as I mentioned in my other reply, these torpedoes also tend to decay fairly unpredictably over time, as we found on INS Sindhurakshak.

 

[ASHOK CARROL]

Major problem here: The numbers don't add up in a sensible manner.

The Varunastra is used by the Visakhapatnam-, Kolkata-, Delhi-, and Rajput-class destroyers, the Nilgiri-, and Talwar-class frigates, and the Kamorta-class corvettes. That comes to a grand total of 156 torpedo tubes. Even if we do not count the Rajputs, that comes to 141 torpedo tubes for the Varunastra.

The two orders mentioned here add up to 136 torpedoes. Does this mean we do not even have enough torpedoes to fill all our torpedo tubes? What about reserves? If this hasn't been factored in (by some miracle), that needs to be done asap, and sufficient reserves need to be built up.

You can't wait for torpedo deliveries in times of war. Just look at the US wait for the Mk 14 torpedo in WW2.

Indian developed torpedoes are slower in speed and range compared to western and Russian torpedoes . Still in development once the more powerful long range ones are produced with new generation batteries speed increased rest be assured an order of over 300 will be placed to build up sanctioned strength . With Pakistans 8 subs by 2035 and Chinese 80 we dont require more than 50 for Pak navy and 300 for the Chinese subs .With old inventories of Russian Cet-53 and Test 65 and German SUT torpedoes the inventory at present must be over 200 and hence a low volume order till range and speed of Indian torpedoes is increased further . The existing stocks have a life of another 15 to 25 years and hence it will always be orders placed incrementally as old torpedoes are either expended in exercises , training or finish shelf life

 

[Shrujanam Syama]

Major problem here: The numbers don't add up in a sensible manner.

The Varunastra is used by the Visakhapatnam-, Kolkata-, Delhi-, and Rajput-class destroyers, the Nilgiri-, and Talwar-class frigates, and the Kamorta-class corvettes. That comes to a grand total of 156 torpedo tubes. Even if we do not count the Rajputs, that comes to 141 torpedo tubes for the Varunastra.

The two orders mentioned here add up to 136 torpedoes. Does this mean we do not even have enough torpedoes to fill all our torpedo tubes? What about reserves? If this hasn't been factored in (by some miracle), that needs to be done asap, and sufficient reserves need to be built up.

You can't wait for torpedo deliveries in times of war. Just look at the US wait for the Mk 14 torpedo in WW2.

Why do you think India is telling the truth about the quantity? What if the order is actually 5 times as much but the disclosed amount is less?