Naval Group to Integrate Indian-made Air Independent Propulsion onto P75 Submarines

Naval Group will commence detailed studies on the integration of an Indian DRDO - developed Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system into the P75 Scorpene submarine platform.

India’s DRDO proved the land-based prototype of a fuel-cell based AIP system as recently as 8 March 2021. The AIP system is being developed by Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) of DRDO with the support of industry partners L&T and Thermax. It has now reached the stage of maturity for fitment into target vessels, DRDO had announced last month.

The AIP will be integrated into project P75 submarines during retrofitting, Naval Group asserted in a release.

The 3rd Indian Scorpène class submarine, the Karanj was recently commissioned. Embarking the success of transfer of technology (ToT) on the first two platforms and the development of Mazagaon Docks Limited (MDL)’s autonomy, the requirement of Naval Group’s role will be naturally limited on the following four. 

As to next steps in the P75 Scorpene program, Naval Group said the delivery of one submarine per year, until the sixth one by 2023-2024 will be accomplished. Now that P75 is well underway, Naval Group is shifting its gaze to the future and is looking to take all the essential measures to firmly establish itself as a key player in the Indian industry.

Referring to the Indian Navy’s P75(I) project which seeks to develop a series of indigenous submarines, Naval Group said:

“Developing a new submarine takes much more time, efforts and planning than any one anticipates. So to build upon what has been achieved incrementally is the most cost effective way to get more submarines quickly. P75(I) project of Indian Navy is one such possibility and will be an even more demanding than P75 in terms of technology, extended capabilities, localizing activity and know-how.