Germany’s thyssenkrupp Teams Up with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to Build Subs for Indian Navy

thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) on the intended construction of conventional, air-independent propulsion submarines on 7 June 2023.

“We look back on a trusting and decade-long partnership with India. The boats we built in the 1980s are still in service today. We are very proud of that and would be delighted to continue contributing to India’s national security in the future. We are ready when India calls,” said Oliver Burkhard, CEO, thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.

With the signing of the MoU thyssenkrupp Marine Systems has laid the foundations for a possible cooperation with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited to compete in the Indian Navy’s tender. The ceremony took place in Mumbai, India in the presence of Boris Pistorius, the German Defence Minister, on 7 June 2023.

Spain’s Navantia and South Korean Daewoo are the other contenders in the Project-75 India (P-75I) program to build six stealth conventional submarines. Under the global tender finally issued in July 2021, MDL Larsen & Toubro shipyard will be selected to build the submarines.

The MoU is a change from two years ago, when TKMS had shown no interest in jointly manufacturing subs in India when the tender was announced. India is looking to order six diesel-electric submarines for its Navy at an estimated cost of $5.2 billion.

Air-independent propulsion technology helps non-nuclear submarines stay underwater longer.

The parties to the MoU intend to cooperate in a joint project in which thyssenkrupp Marine Systems contributes the engineering and design of the submarines as well as providing consultancy support. The MoU also states that Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited would be responsible for constructing and delivering the respective submarines. The construction work would take place in India and is expected to include significant local content.

thyssenkrupp Marine Systems built and delivered vessels for the Indian Navy in the past. The four HDW Class 209 submarines built in the 1980s had already proved to be a successful Indo-German cooperation. The first and second of those submarines were built by thyssenkrupp Marine System (then HDW in Kiel), the third and fourth by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai. All four vessels were successfully commissioned into the Indian Navy and continue to serve as frontline assets in the Indian Navy’s Mumbai-based submarine fleet.