Defence Ministry clears Rs 40,000-cr project for 6 advanced submarines

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Thursday cleared the procurement of six advanced submarines for “over Rs 40,000 crore”. This acquisition, codenamed Project 75-I, has been in the pipeline for a decade.

The six submarines will have “air independent propulsion” (AIP), which will allow them to remain submerged for up to 14 days, during which it is difficult to detect them. Conventional diesel-electric submarines must surface every 48-72 hours to charge their batteries, when they become vulnerable to detection.

“This is the second project under the MoD’s ambitious Strategic Partnership (SP) model that… envisages indigenous manufacturing of major defence platforms