Indian Navy Seeks New Class of Autonomous Submarine Vessels to Enhance Coastal Defence and Surveillance Capabilities

The Indian Navy is charting a course towards greater modernization by exploring the acquisition of a new class of autonomous submarine vessels. These 100-ton, unmanned vessels are designed to significantly enhance India's coastal defence and surveillance capabilities, particularly in shallow waters, addressing a key maritime security need.

Equipped with advanced combat capabilities, including weapons, mine clearance systems, and surveillance equipment, these highly maneuverable submarines are expected to play a crucial role in monitoring and countering the activities of adversarial forces.

Defence sources indicate that these unmanned vessels will be instrumental in safeguarding India's extensive 7,500-kilometer coastline against both conventional and asymmetric threats.

These autonomous submarines offer several advantages:

• Enhanced coastal defence: They are ideally suited for navigating complex littoral zones, such as the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, where agility and versatility are paramount.
• Force multiplier: Complementing the Indian Navy's existing fleet of larger, manned submarines, these autonomous vessels will act as force multipliers, enhancing situational awareness and combat readiness.
• Cost-effectiveness: Their smaller size and unmanned operation are likely to reduce manufacturing, operational, and maintenance costs compared to traditional submarines.

This initiative aligns with the Indian Navy's broader modernization efforts and its focus on leveraging technology to enhance maritime security. By incorporating autonomous submarine vessels, the Navy aims to strengthen its ability to protect India's territorial waters and maintain vigilance in critical maritime zones.

 

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[SR]

It is good start but why just 100? should check USA.

 

[obiwankenubi jedi]

Yes, with 0 (yes, zero!) mine countermeasure vessels, the Indian Navy is completely exposed to submarine-deployed mines and autonomous vehicles/smart mines, even in its own waters and ports.

With a 7500 km coastline with 12 major and 200 minor ports to protect, even 100 AUVs may not be enough.

For the current 150 active vessels, with 130 major combat vessels, surely 100 autonomous submarines are outnumbered, but it's a start.

But do we even have a prototype of the AUV that we are testing/using yet? What happened to the XLUUV from MDL? And the midget submarine Arowana?

 

[Praveen]

It should not be 100 tons but 300 to 400 ton class. Because we need to put lot of equipment and it needs to stay underwater for long time and go long range also. We need to put active array sonar and towed array sonar in it. Other than that it should have 3 to 5 light weight torpedoes for attacking enemy ships and subs.

 

[Anant]

Yes, with 0 (yes, zero!) mine countermeasure vessels, the Indian Navy is completely exposed to submarine-deployed mines and autonomous vehicles/smart mines, even in its own waters and ports.

With a 7500 km coastline with 12 major and 200 minor ports to protect, even 100 AUVs may not be enough.

For the current 150 active vessels, with 130 major combat vessels, surely 100 autonomous submarines are outnumbered, but it's a start.

But do we even have a prototype of the AUV that we are testing/using yet? What happened to the XLUUV from MDL? And the midget submarine Arowana?

One sincerely hopes the MCMV project restart gets green-lit soon. The City-class MCMV mothership design is already geared well for the Indian Navy's needs, and the planned 12 boats would cost something around 3 billion USD.

Even if we get 6 of those, we could look at 12-15 boats of an indigenous design as well.

 

[desigandu]

Good but how quickly can we develop and deploy them - can we make 12+ a year and deploy all 100 by 2030-2032…As with other AUVs this capability must be in addition to manned vessels - both ships and subs…

 

[Sandeep]

These would be ideal to use against a carrier if packed with explosives and it explodes below the hull. We should also use them for discrete surveillance, SIGNET, COMINT which will be difficult to detect.

 

[Shiva]

This is something I was thinking about for more than 10 years: why India does not have this kind of setup. Maybe, until now, we were importing most of the components, and now we have acquired the capability to produce a smaller size but using completely indigenous technology. That's why the government was ready with 300 units.

 

[Dipesh Debnath]

This is something I was thinking about for more than 10 years: why India does not have this kind of setup.

Private players were missing back then. Now Sagar systems make UUV and maybe others are also there.