WDB to design Indigenous Project-76 Submarines, MDL Shown Interest in Manufacturing

India's ambitious push for self-reliance in the realm of underwater warfare takes a significant turn with Project-76. This groundbreaking initiative aims to design and build state-of-the-art conventional diesel submarines entirely within the nation.

A notable shift from previous submarine ventures, Project-76 entrusts the Warship Design Bureau (WDB) with the sole responsibility for the design phase.

This decision marks a departure from tradition, as India's leading submarine builder, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), is not directly involved in the design stage. MDL, with its proven track record of constructing over eight submarines, had anticipated playing a leading role.

Nevertheless, MDL officials express their keenness to take part in the manufacturing process once the WDB completes the submarine designs.

Project-76: A Two-Phase Endeavor​

Project-76 envisions constructing 3,000-ton submarines in a two-phased approach, with each phase encompassing the production of six vessels. These submarines promise to incorporate numerous advanced features:

• Indigenous Ingenuity: Seeking to capitalize on the knowledge and expertise gained from India's nuclear submarine program, Project-76 underscores the nation's emphasis on local technological development.
• Enhanced Stealth: The submarines will feature cutting-edge pump-jet propulsion systems. This technology offers quieter operation and improved maneuverability compared to traditional propeller-driven designs.

The Path to Self-Reliance​

Project-76 comes on the heels of Project-75I, an initiative focusing on the acquisition of six submarines through an international tender.

While Project-75I grants India swift access to contemporary submarine technologies, Project-76 epitomizes a long-term strategic commitment to indigenous submarine design and construction.

Should India successfully navigate the challenges associated with Project-76, it has the potential to emerge as a formidable player in submarine design and production. Achieving self-sufficiency in this critical sector will greatly bolster India's maritime defense prowess.

The Road Ahead​

Project-76 represents a transformative move in India's defense manufacturing landscape. Its success hinges on the WDB's ability to produce innovative, high-performance submarine designs.

The eventual collaboration between the WDB and MDL will be essential in translating these designs into a formidable underwater fleet. Ultimately, Project-76 has the potential to propel India towards its goal of self-reliance in the strategic domain of submarine warfare.

 

[charminar_waale_ismail_bhai]

Exciting times.

Now let there be a fair and open bidding on who would be the lead contractor for integration and assembly of the vessels.

 

[Anant]

Again, they are running for pump-jets in conventional submarines. Anyone consider why conventional submarines do not normally go for pumpjets instead? They are not exactly optimal due to power requirements. A nuclear reactor can give you that spare power, but a diesel-electric powerplant may struggle.

 

[DMS]

Again, they are running for pump-jets in conventional submarines. Anyone consider why conventional submarines do not normally go for pumpjets instead? They are not exactly optimal due to power requirements. A nuclear reactor can give you that spare power, but a diesel-electric powerplant may struggle.

not really, your statement shows your lack of knowledge. Pumpjet are generally more efficient than propeller but problem is scaling down, in Nuclear powered system u can connect pumpjet to steam turbine in MW range of power so you didn't need to bother with scaling down

Using SOdium/Aluminium Ion battery will give huge power density anyway

 

[Pink Panther]

Again, they are running for pump-jets in conventional submarines. Anyone consider why conventional submarines do not normally go for pumpjets instead? They are not exactly optimal due to power requirements. A nuclear reactor can give you that spare power, but a diesel-electric powerplant may struggle.

Yes pumpjet is a overkill for conventional Diesel electric Submarines, It may be good for Nuclear Attack Submarines.

A pump jet for the future submarine? Not so fast (or slow) | The Strategist

A couple of months ago Andrew Davies offered some comments on the pump-jet propulsion system that’s proposed as a key feature of the Shortfin Barracuda. As he observed, there seems a clear case for propellers ...

www.aspistrategist.org.au

 

[Ramsses CDXX]

WHY WDB and not MDL❓❓WDB ke paas itna kya khaas cheez 🧀 hai? Hawa ka rukh aise kaise badal gaya?

 

[INDIAN]

The vision will remain vision itself , in another 30-50 years.
A nation who can build nuclear submarines, don't have eco system for developing non-nuclear one.
Scorpene and now Proejct-75I , even Proejct-75I will take decades to build ,given our procurement.
India has a nation don't have any defence goal ,we just happey in World is one family all these stuffs.
China want to dominant the world, America want to maintain its dominance , Pakistan want kashmir , Russia want revival of great power status.
And what India wants..? And because we don't want anything , we are just laggards.
We only want freebies poltics.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Exciting times.

Now let there be a fair and open bidding on who would be the lead contractor for integration and assembly of the vessels.

I dont think there is bidding on bidding warships in India. I think it is the norm worldwide. Since shipbuilding requires a huge amount of capital as well as expertise. Process of giving orders involves consideration of lots of factors other than cost as well.

 

[Kirit Patel]

Exciting times.

Now let there be a fair and open bidding on who would be the lead contractor for integration and assembly of the vessels.

Agree, this way private conpanies can participate to build next generation Submerine and export.

 

[Anant]

not really, your statement shows your lack of knowledge. Pumpjet are generally more efficient than propeller but problem is scaling down, in Nuclear powered system u can connect pumpjet to steam turbine in MW range of power so you didn't need to bother with scaling down

Using SOdium/Aluminium Ion battery will give huge power density anyway

Very well. However, pumpjets still do require a lot of power, which is why they are directly connected to the steam turbines. You can use a set of Na/Al batteries, but whether or not you'll get enough power to get the pumpjet and other systems going while also maintaining a reasonable endurance would remain to be seen.

 

[charminar_waale_ismail_bhai]

I dont think there is bidding on bidding warships in India. I think it is the norm worldwide. Since shipbuilding requires a huge amount of capital as well as expertise. Process of giving orders involves consideration of lots of factors other than cost as well.

How do you think DPSUs end up bagging most defence related orders from the government in spite of poor track records with past fulfillments?
They grossly underbid.
By the virtue of L1 bidding process, they win the contracts.
Even the government officials prefer to contract out to PSUs since this keeps them from incurring any graft chanrges.
What these DPSUs do, from time they win contract, they dilly dalley and start inflating the contract like there is no tomorrow.

 

[kumar]

Hope private yards like l&t get orders from navy for submarines.

 

[desigandu]

VLS, AIP with Lithium Ion batteries and potentially a larger size to 4000Ton to become effective SSKs for long patrols, as India will not have SSNs till 2035 and even then in small numbers...India's Submarine strategy by 2050 should entail the following, SSKs - 2000+ Ton Class along with 4000+ Ton Class; SSNs - 6000ton class and then 10000Ton class; SSBNs - 6000-7000Ton to 13500Ton to 20000Ton class; and of course under sea drones...The numbers can vary (based on speed of construction and budgets) but these should have world class capabilities including long range precision strikes with VLS combined with silent propulsion (SSKs with both AIP and Lithium Ion batteries like KSSIII and Japanese Taiga class SSKs) with extreme automation...Given we need to dominate IOR, silent submarines are a good sea denial strategy...Besides this we need a large distributed (swift, agile and small) navy/coast guard (with 100s of ships in the 2000-3000 Ton class with helos/drones - like cutters and corvettes for distributed lethality, as compared to large frigates/destroyers which can be prime targets, though we need them too but in smaller numbers) ships with 4-8 cell VLS, ASW, anti air specialized capabilities, making them hard targets but with ability to move fast and cover large areas...These ships should be fast, stealthy, small with extreme automation to carry a big offensive punch.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

How do you think DPSUs end up bagging most defence related orders from the government in spite of poor track records with past fulfillments?
They grossly underbid.
By the virtue of L1 bidding process, they win the contracts.
Even the government officials prefer to contract out to PSUs since this keeps them from incurring any graft chanrges.
What these DPSUs do, from time they win contract, they dilly dalley and start inflating the contract like there is no tomorrow.

can you give me an example of how a DPSU inflated the contract after dilly dalyying.

 

[Sandeep]

This is good news that progress is being made as we need to design and develop our own submarines if we want to become self reliant. India can't become a superpower until they develop the complex technology and equipment by itself without requiring any foreign parts at all. India needs a large number of submarines spread out across the Indian Ocean to maintain dominance and react to any threats very quickly. Currently only half of our submarines are actively deployed as the other half is either going through life extension, upgrades, repairs or other issues and the Indian Ocean can't be covered with just 6-8 submarines on active duty. We need to increase the number of submarines we build at the same time and increase the indigenous technology or reverse engineer it even if it seems like a copy of the original part or equipment.

 

[Sudha]

can you give me an example of how a DPSU inflated the contract after dilly dalyying.

Look at the history of MDL. It is a surprise that you don't know due to MDL'S dilly dallying while manufacturing the scropene the cost escalation was more than $ 1 billion.

 

[Siddharth Asthana]

WHY WDB and not MDL❓❓WDB ke paas itna kya khaas cheez 🧀 hai? Hawa ka rukh aise kaise badal gaya?

Cos 75i will got to MDL and 76 to a pvt shipyard

 

[abhinav srivastava]

Hope we have measurable and achievable targets. Incremental progress will be win- win for all.