Germany and Spain Vie for $4.8 Billion Indian Submarine Deal
In order to offset China’s growing naval presence in the Indo-Pacific area, India is looking to bolster its navy, therefore the South Asian country is competing for a 400 billion rupee ($4.8 billion) deal to build submarines there. Six of the warships will be built in India, according to senior Indian officials informed of the developments, who declined to be identified since the negotiations are confidential. The two bids were made by Spain’s Navantia in conjunction with private shipyard Larsen & Toubro and Germany’s Thyssenkrupp AG and Mumbai’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, the sources said.
India is searching for a dependable replacement for Russian military gear as Russia, its main supplier of arms, is embroiled in a lengthy conflict in Ukraine and is subject to sanctions from the US and its allies. India is positioning itself as a manufacturing centre and pushing for technology transfers to manufacture complex defense assets like fighter planes and submarines. India is a member of the so-called Quad grouping, which also consists of Japan, the United States, and Australia. Requests for response from the defense ministry, Larsen & Toubro, and MDL were unanswered. While Navantia ignored an email request for comment, Thyssenkrupp acknowledged the proposal and cited a statement from June 7.
India’s old fleet has suffered as Beijing has increased its naval capabilities in recent years is no longer considered sufficient to deter China’s presence in the Indian Ocean. The government has determined that India’s navy needs at least 24 conventional submarines in New Delhi has stated, but there are just 16 at the moment. Most of these are more than 30 years old and is probably going to be shut down soon.
According to the sources, the Indian Navy will choose the bid that offers the greatest and most extensive transfer of technology. In addition to supplying the submarines with air independent propulsion technology that enables traditional vessels to stay underwater for longer, the ministry of defense stated it expected major knowledge transfer to Indian shipyards when it announced the tender in July.
The government-owned Mazagon Dock Shipyard Limited or Larsen & Toubro, one of India’s largest construction firms, were the two options for the design, development, and manufacture of conventional diesel-electric-powered submarines under a tender that the ministry of defense published in July. The objective is to develop homegrown skills gradually to “manufacture complex weapon systems,” the ministry stated when unveiling the global initiative tenders.
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