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.