New Delhi:
The Scorpene submarine has been jointly developed by French defence contractor DCNS and Navantia of Spain. India had placed an order for six Scorpene submarines in October 2005. The submarines were being built at the Mazagon dockyard in Mumbai, with technical assistance from French defence contractors DCN and Thales.
India had also placed an order for 36 MBDA SM-39 Exocet anti-ship missiles to arm the submarines. These submarines are to be manufactured under a technology transfer agreement by the state-owned Mazagon Docks in Mumbai and delivered between 2012 and 2016.
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Construction of the first vessel began in 2006 and was scheduled to be delivered by September 2016. One submarine will be delivered each year until 2017. The total cost of the submarines is estimated to be $3.75bn.
However the project is running four years behind the schedule. India has plans to incorporate the DRDO-developed air independent propulsion (AIP) system onto the last two submarines being built and also to equip the submarines, of which the DCNS is participating in the tender process.
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According to reports, the DRDO-developed AIP system for the last two Scorpène submarines for the Indian Navy was developed in 2014.
The first Scorpène submarine, named INS Kalvari, was undocked for the purpose of starting sea trials in April 2015 and will be delivered in September 2016.
(With inputs from naval-technology.com)
