nam raised a good point. The DAC approved this program in October 2014 as well. Now they approved the program again. AFAIK, nothing has moved in 4+ years. Perhaps tsarkar or John can advise more on this.
Karthik S wrote:So which subs will be P 75I?
That is anyone's guess right now.
From a quick turnaround and logistics wise, a follow on order of Scorpenes would be best. But that will not happen due to the data leak scandal. If a repeat order of Scorpene does come, I would be surprised.
That leaves the other three contenders - Type 214 of Germany, Amur Class of Russia and A26 of Sweden.
1) A26 is a great boat, but on paper. If you go to the Saab website, one will get enamoured by brochuritis. I did!
Actual combat capability is a whole other story and that can only be ascertained when the first boat is put to sea. There is none, as the first boat for the Swedish Navy was laid only in 2015.
https://saab.com/naval/submarines-and-s ... gJ7PvD_BwE
2) Type 214. Great boat, but missing a key technology from the Type 212 - the non-magnetic steel hull. Also the German AIP tech (hydrogen fuel cell) may be a deal killer. Despite assurances, that is a cinder box waiting to explode.
3) Amur Class. There is a problem though. The Lada Class - from which the Amur Class is the export variant - has gone through significant growing pains. The Russian Navy did not want it, after the first boat in the class - the Sankt Peterburg - fell short of expectations. The boat went through a major redesign and the Russian Navy accepted the next two boats in the class, after the redesign. Whether the Russian Navy accepted the new design of their own free volition or had to reluctantly accept it, will never be known. But apparently the Russian Navy will be ordering a couple more boats, after the construction of the present two.
The key variable here is the BrahMos missile. Project 75I will have a VLS plug for a BrahMos missile. Saab of Sweden has apparently agreed to incorporate a BrahMos VLS plug, but then again Saab says anything to win a contract! HDW will likely agree as well. But since the BrahMos is a Indo-Russian joint venture, incorporating the missile on a Russian platform will be easiest for the Russians to swallow.
There is a dark horse candidate - the Soryu Class from Japan. The undisputed King of SSKs. Unfortunately, the candidate is *SO* dark to catch, the Indian Navy will never get her hands on it. The Japanese offered the boat to the Aussies (and lost to the Shortfin Barracuda from France), but not to us. There were talks that the Japanese will offer the Soryu to India, but nothing materialized.
Soryu Class
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sōryū-class_submarine