DRDO takes up preliminary study on development of indigenous conventional submarine
- July 1, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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DRDO takes up preliminary study on development of indigenous conventional submarine
Sub: Science and tech
Sec: Defence
Context:
- As the procurement of new submarines under P-75I goes on, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has taken up a preliminary study on the design and development of an indigenous conventional submarine under Project-76.
More on news:
- DRDO is expected to take upto a year after which a formal case will be put up to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for project sanction.
- This will be a continuation of the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project, to build a conventional submarine, under which the Arihant series of nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) are being built and another project for building nuclear-powered submarines (SSN) is currently underway.
- Under P-76, there will be substantial indigenous content, including weapons, missiles, combat management system, sonars, communications, Electronic Warfare suite, mast and periscope.
- The Navy has a 30-year submarine building programme and after the P-75I, it intends to design and build conventional submarines indigenously.
About Air Independent Propulsion:
- An Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) module designed and developed by DRDO is now awaiting fitment on the Scorpene class submarines.
- The first Scorpene-class submarine Kalvari is expected to go for refit in 2025 when the fitment process would begin and is expected to take 2-3 years.
- An AIP module acts as a force multiplier as it enables conventional submarines to remain submerged for longer duration thereby increasing their endurance and reducing chances of detection.
- An AIP module is inside a submarine so there is no corrosion issue and the only aspect to be checked in a submarine is the reliability of the AIP module.
- The DRDO-developed AIP module is phosphoric acid based which is widely available.
- An AIP module has a stack of fuel cells generating hydrogen.
- The power output of each fuel cell in the DRDO AIP is 13.5 kW.
- It is being so asked up to 15.5 kW and will eventually be scaled up to 20 kW which will meet future submarine requirements like the P-76.
- The final configuration of the AIP is a stack of 24 fuel cells and the overall output will be higher than the requirement, to build in redundancy and optimize performance.
About Project 75 (I):
- The project was approved in 2007, is part of the Indian Navy’s 30-year Plan for indigenous submarine construction.
- It will be the first under the strategic partnership model which was promulgated in 2017 to boost indigenous defense manufacturing.
About Project 76:
- Project-76 will focus on the indigenous design and development of six new next-generation submarines.
- This project will leverage the robust ecosystem established through Project-75, Project-75I, and the ongoing nuclear submarine programs.
About Cabinet Committee on Security:
- The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is a cabinet committee of the Government of India that discusses, debates and is the final decision-making body on senior appointments in the national security apparatus, defense policy and expenditure,and generally all matters of India’s national security.
- It is headed by the Prime Minister.
- Its members include the PM, Ministers of Defence, Home Affairs, Finance and External Affairs.