Threat from sea: submarine force to be weakest by 2015

[hkmarine55]

Threat from sea: submarine force to be weakest by 2015​

Defence planners in India are a jittery lot, confronting the specter of an unprecedented dip in the undersea attack capabilities of the navy.

Chinese submarines in Indian Ocean. HT Photo

While China is scaling up its underwater capabilities, the Indian Navy's submarine force levels will be the lowest in its history by 2015, a confidential defence ministry report has revealed.

The navy will be left with merely six to seven submarines, including India's first and only nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant, as it begins phasing out the Russian Kilo class and German HDW Type 209 submarines next year.

The report warned India had "never before been poised in such a vulnerable situation" and the undersea force levels were "at a highly precarious state".

The navy currently operates 14 submarines, including a nuclear-powered attack submarine leased from Russia. However, the "viable strength" of its submarine arm is much less, factoring in the operational availability of the boats.

In contrast, China operates close to 45 submarines, including two ballistic missile submarines. "China may plan to construct 15 additional Yuan-class attack submarines, based on German diesel engine purchases," the report said. It said the Yuan-class boats could be equipped with air-independent propulsion systems to recharge their batteries without having to surface for more than three weeks, a capability currently unavailable with the Indian Navy.

The size of India's submarine fleet will roughly be the same as that of the Pakistani Navy in two years. "As this critical (undersea) capability is eroded, there is an inverse increase in both capability and strength of the Chinese and Pakistani navies," the report stated.

Six Scorpene submarines are currently being built at the Mazagon Dock Ltd in Mumbai with technology from French firm DCNS under a Rs. 23,562-crore project codenamed P-75.

But the first of these boats will not be ready before 2016-17, though it should have been commissioned into the navy last year. The report said the delay had "set off a capability gap that will widen" in the coming years.

 

[Abingdonboy]

IF India was planning/expecting to go to war in the next 2 years then this would be particularly worrying but of course the chances of the are incredibly remote. A mere 12 months after this 2015 arbritary date the IN Sub force will begin recovering and expanding and then will start to flourish from 2017 onwards.


This is yet ANOTHER needlessly alarmist article.



We don't even have to mention the serious increase in ASW capabilities of the IN and some recent reports that have come about reporting the Chinese SSK's and SSN's high (relative) detectability.

 

[hkmarine55]

Submarines Of Indian Navy:

Class overview
Name: Sindhughosh class
Operators: Indian Navy
In commission: 1986–
Planned: 10
Completed: 10
Active: 10
General characteristics
Type: Submarine
Displacement: 2,325 t (2,288 long tons) surfaced
3,076 t (3,027 long tons) submerged
Length: 72.6 m (238 ft 2 in)
Beam: 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in)
Draught: 6.6 m (21 ft 8 in)
Propulsion: 2 × diesel-electric motors, 3,650 hp (2,722 kW) each
1 × motor, 5,900 hp (4,400 kW)
2 × auxiliary motors, 204 hp (152 kW)
1 × economic speed motor, 130 hp (97 kW)
Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced[verification needed]
17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) submerged[verification needed]
Range: 6,000 mi (9,700 km) at 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) snorkeling
400 mi (640 km) at 3 kn (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) submerged
Test depth: 300 m (980 ft)
Complement: 53 (13 Officers)
Armament: • 9M36 Strela-3 (SA-N-8) SAM launcher
• Club-S (3M-54E) ASCM (after mid-life refit)
• Type 53-65 passive wake homing torpedo
• TEST 71/76 anti-submarine, active-passive homing torpedo
• 24 × DM-1 mines in lieu of torpedoes

Sindhughosh (S55)
Sindhudhvaj (S56)
Sindhuraj (S57)
Sindhuvir (S58)
Sindhuratna (S59)
Sindhukesari (S60)
Sindhukirti (S61)
Sindhuvijay (S62)
Sindhurakshak (S63)
Sindhushastra (S65)

Shishumar class

Class overview
Name: Shishumar class
Builders: Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft
Mazagon Dock Limited
Operators: Indian Navy
In commission: 1986–
Planned: 6
Completed: 4
Cancelled: 2
Active: 4
General characteristics
Type: Submarine
Displacement: 1,450 t (1,427 long tons) surfaced
1,850 t (1,821 long tons) submerged
Length: 64.4 m (211 ft 3 in)
Beam: 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in)
Draught: 6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Propulsion: 4 × diesel-electric motors, 2,400 hp (1,790 kW) each
1 × Siemens motor, 4,600 hp (3,430 kW)
4 × 1.8 MW Siemens alternators
1 shaft
Speed: 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) surfaced
22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) submerged
Range: 8,000 nmi (15,000 km) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
13,000 nmi (24,000 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Test depth: 260 m (850 ft)
Complement: 40 (8 Officers)
Armament: • 14 × AEG-SUT Mod-1 wire-guided active/passive homing torpedoes
• 24 × external strap-on mines

Shishumar (S44)
Shankush (S45)
Shalki (S46)
Shankul (S47)

Akula class (SSN)

INS Chakra [on 10-year lease from 2010/11]one more to be leased taking total to 2 Akula class submarine
Class overview
Name: Akula
Operators: Soviet Navy
Russian Navy
Indian Navy
Preceded by: Operational precedessor: Victor class
By sequence of construction: Sierra class
Succeeded by: Yasen class
Cost: est. $1.55 billion (1995 dollars)
In service: 1984
Planned: 21[1]
Completed: 15
Cancelled: 6
Active: 10 (9 In Russia, 1 In India)
Retired: 5
General characteristics
Type: nuclear-powered attack submarine
Displacement:
surfaced:
8,140 tons Akula I and Akula I Improved
8,450–8,470 tons Akula II and III
submerged:
12,770 tons Akula I and Akula I Improved
13,400–13,800 tons Akula II and III
Length: 110.3 m for Akula I and Akula I Improved
113.3 m for Akula II and Akula III
Beam: 13.6 m
Draught: 9.7 m
Propulsion: one 190 MW OK-650B/OK-650M pressurized water nuclear reactor
1 OK-7 steam turbine 43,000 hp (32 MW)
2 OK-2 Turbogenerators producing 2,000 kW
1 seven-bladed propeller
2 OK-300 retractable electric propulsors for low-speed and quiet maneuvering at 5 knots (6 km/h)
Speed: 10 knots surfaced
28-35 knots submerged[2]
Endurance: 100 days[1]
Test depth: 480 m test depth for Akula I and Akula I Improved
520 m for Akula II and III
600 m maximum operating depth[3]
Complement: 73 for Akula I & Improved,[4] 62 (31 officers) for Akula II & III [5]
Sensors and
processing systems: MGK-540 active/passive suite
Flank arrays
Pelamida towed array sonar
MG-70 mine detection sonar
Electronic warfare
& decoys: Bukhta ESM/ECM
*MG-74 Korund noise simulation decoys (fired from external tubes)
MT-70 Sonar intercept receiver
Nikhrom-M IFF
Armament:
4 × 533mm torpedo tubes (28 torpedoes) and 4 × 650mm torpedo tubes (12 torpedoes) (K-152 Nerpa has 8 × 533mm torpedo tubes) 40 torpedoes total
1–3 × SA-N-10 Igla-M Surface-to-air missile launcher fired from sail (surface use only)
Notes: Chiblis Surface Search radar
Medvyeditsa-945 Navigation system
Molniya-M Satellite communications
MGK-80 Underwater communications
Tsunami, Kiparis, Anis, Sintez and Kora Communications antennas
Paravan Towed VLF Antenna
Vspletsk Combat direction system

Arihant class

Class overview
Name: Arihant (अरिहंत
Builders: Hindustan Shipyard Limited
Operators:
Indian Navy
Succeeded by: Arihant follow-on submarine
In commission: 2012- (est.)
Building: 3[1]
Planned: 4
Completed: 1
General characteristics
Type: Ballistic missile submarine
Displacement: 6,000 tons[2]
Length: 112 m (367 ft)[2]
Beam: 15 m (49 ft) (Est.)
Draft: 10 m (33 ft) (Est.)
Propulsion: 83MW PWR[1] using 40% enriched uranium fuel; 1 turbine (47,000hp/70MW); 1 shaft; 1 7-bladed, high-skew propeller
Speed: 12–15 knots (22–28 km/h) (surfaced); 24 knots (44 km/h) (submerged)
Range: unlimited except by food supplies
Test depth: 300 m (980 ft) (est)
Complement: 95
Sensors and
processing systems: USHUS Sonar
Armament:
Torpedoes: 6 x 21" (533mm) torpedo tubes - est. 30 charges (torpedoes, missiles or mines)[3]
4 launch tubes (2.4 meter dia each)[4]
12 x K15 SLBM (3 in each launch tube) or
4 x K-4[1][5] SLBM (Under development)

Planned submarines

Arihant Class(SSBN) ---3 Navy aims to have 3 SSBNs and 6 SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines) in the future.
The second submarine in this class Arihant is named as INS Aridhaman.[2]

Scorpène class--- 6

Class overview
Name: Scorpène
Builders: DCNS

Navantia
Mazagon Dock Limited
Brazilian Navy Shipyard
Operators: Chilean Navy

Indian Navy
Royal Malaysian Navy
Brazilian Navy (planned to 2015)
Preceded by: Agosta-class submarine
Succeeded by: Marlin-class submarine
Subclasses: CA-2000
CM-2000
AM-2000
S-BR
Cost: $450 million
Building: 2
Planned: 19
Completed: 4
Cancelled: 4
Active: 4
General characteristics
Class & type: Scorpène class
Type: submarine
Displacement: 1,565 tonnes (1,725 short tons) (CM-2000)
1,870 tonnes (2,060 short tons) (AM-2000)
2,000 tonnes (2,200 short tons) (S-BR)[1]
Length: 61.7 metres (202 ft) (CM-2000)
70 metres (230 ft) (AM-2000)
75 metres (246 ft) (S-BR)[1]
Beam: 6.2 metres (20 ft)
Draught: 5.4 metres (18 ft)
Draft: 5.8 metres (19 ft)
Propulsion: Diesel-Electric, Batteries, and AIP
Speed:
20 knots (37 km/h) (submerged)
12 kn (22 km/h) (surfaced)
Range:
6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km) at 8 knots (surfaced)
550 nmi (1,020 km) at 5 knots (submerged)
Endurance: 40 days (compact)
50 days (normal)
50+21 days (AIP)
Test depth: >300 metres (980 ft)
Complement: 31
Armament: 6 x 533-mm torpedo tubes for 18 Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei Black Shark heavyweight torpedoes or SM.39 Exocet anti-ship missiles, 30 mines in place of torpedoes
Notes:
Ships in class include: O'Higgins
Carrera

Unknown (Project 75I) -------- 6 Request for Information for 6 submarines has been issued to DCNS, Navantia, Rubin Design Bureau and Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft.
This class is new hunter-killer submarine class.
It is going to be a bigger submarine than Scorpène

 

[GR!FF!N]

Even though Indian Submarine fleet will decrease,its naval power and ASW capability will increase multifold.even then India will have 2 nuclear subs(and possibly another Akula),1-2 in the construction phase(nuclear) and only from 2016,India will start to induct 1 subs in every 6 moths duration(Scorpenes).and I hope India will already chose P-75I winner then.so,no need to worry.but I think India must review its sub building policy,keep building SSBN and SSN subs as fast as we can to increase our underwater fleet and we are really lagging in this field.

a question,I read somewhere that generally subs has a lifetime of 30 years.thats why India will slowly retire subs which was made on 1986 and later time.but is there any way to overhaul to increase that lifetime so that this subs could perform its duty few more years??

 

[hkmarine55]

Conventionally-powered attack submarines

Qing class submarine (Type 043) - 1 completed, probably in active service, more under construction.
Yuan class submarine (Type 041) - 7 in active service, more "Improved Yuan class" under construction.
Song class submarine (Type 039) - 13 in active service.
Romeo (Ming) class submarine (Type 035) - 16 in active service.
Romeo (Wuhan) class submarine (Type 033G) - 1 in active service.
Kilo class submarine - 12 in active service.

Nuclear-powered fleet submarines

class (Type 095) - Under development, rumored to have started sea trials in 2011.
Shang class (Type 093) - 4 in active service.
Han class (Type 091) - 3 in active service.

Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines

Tang class (Type 096) - Rumored to be in development for the PLAN.
Jin class (Type 094) - 3 in active service, 2 more under construction.
Xia class (Type 092) - 1 in active service.

Over View on PLAN Submarine fleet:

More noise from China: Submarines
by-China Daily Mail

Over the last five years, Chinese submarines have been going to sea a lot more, at least the diesel-electric boats have been.

This is worrying to other nations in the region, and the U.S. Navy, because it means China is training its submarine crews for war. Previously the Chinese kept their fleet in port most of the time. This was cheaper, although in wartime it meant that Chinese warships would not last long in combat against a better trained fleet (like the Americans, Japanese, South Koreans, or Taiwanese). Now the Chinese are building better quality subs and feel they may have a fighting chance, if they have better prepared crews as well.

Pretty noisy and easy to find

For China one downside of all this training is that the U.S. Navy has more opportunity to practice hunting Chinese subs. This is particularly true for American subs, which are well equipped with passive (listen only) sonar and are even more effective if they have a lot of sound samples for enemy subs operating underwater or on the surface.

The U.S. has discovered that Chinese diesel-electric boats are rapidly getting quieter, apparently because the Chinese have learned more about advanced techniques for “silencing” subs. Still, most of the 60 Chinese subs in service are pretty noisy and easy to find.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Navy has been designing and building a rapidly evolving collection of “Song” (Type 39) class diesel-electric submarines that emphasise quietness. The changes have been so great that the latest four Songs have been called Yuan class (Type 39A or Type 41). The original design (Type 39) first appeared in 2001, and 13 have been built.

But in 2008, a noticeably different Type 39 appeared. This has been called Type 39A or Type 41. Two of these Type 39As appeared before two of another variant, sometimes called Type 39B, showed up. The evolution continues, and there are now six or seven “Type 41 Yuan Class” subs (of at least three distinct models). These latest models appear to have AIP (air independent propulsion system) along with new electronics and other internal improvements.

Chinese naval engineers getting more creative

This rapid evolution of the Type 39 appears to be another example of China adapting Russian submarine technology to Chinese design ideas and new technology. China has been doing this for as long as it has been building subs (since the 1960s). But this latest version of what appears to be the Type 41 design shows Chinese naval engineers getting more creative.

Two or more Yuans are believed to have an AIP that would allow them to cruise underwater longer. Western AIP systems allow subs to stay under water for two weeks or more. The Chinese AIP has less power and reliability and does not appear to be nearly as capable as Russian or Western models. The Chinese will keep improving on their AIP, just as they have done with so many other military technology.

The Songs look a lot like the Russian Kilo class and that was apparently no accident. The 39s and 41s are both 1,800 ton boats with crews of 60 sailors and six torpedo tubes. This is very similar to the Kilos (which are a bit larger). China began ordering Russian Kilo class subs, then one of the latest diesel-electric designs available, in the late 1990s.

The first two Type 41s appeared to be a copy of the early model Kilo (the model 877), while the second pair of Type 41s appeared to copy the late Kilos (model 636). The latest Yuans still appear like Kilos but may be part of an evolution into a sub that is similar to the Russian successor to the Kilo, the Lada class submarines.

The Type 39s were the first Chinese subs to have the teardrop shaped hull. The Type 41 was thought to be just an improved Song but on closer examination, especially by the Russians, it looked like a clone of the Kilos. The Russians now believe that the entire Song/Yuan project is part of a long-range plan to successfully copy the Kilo. If that is the case, it appears to be succeeding.

Chinese stock of submarines

China currently has
13 Song class,
12 Kilo class,
7 Yuan class, and
18 Ming (improved Russian Romeo) class boats.

There are only 3 Han class SSN (nuclear powered submarines), as the Chinese are still having a lot of problems with nuclear power in subs.

Despite that, the Han class submarines are going to sea, even though they are noisy and easily detected by Western sensors. Five Han were built (between 1974 and 1991) but 2 have already been retired. There are 4 newer Shang class SSN in service, but these are still pretty noisy.

The Song/Yuan class subs are meant to replace the elderly Ming.

The U.S. Navy had a comfortable technological lead over the PLAN even before the increased Chinese sub activity fueled the recent intelligence coup. Now that lead has gotten even wider. And noisier.

 

[DrSomnath999]

how IN navy would counter chinese sub threat in future.

1) P 8 posedion ASW
which is going to be armed with stand off Fish hawk torpedo

2) Acquisition of P 75 subs & P 75 I subs in future

i beleive follow up Scorpene order would be most likely as it looks more practical



3) Creation of more advanced naval base in indian territories & listening posts
in Malaca straits region & vietnam & of course many other SE asian countries

4)Rapid induction of more advanced Advanced ASW platforms
like kamorta class ASW

5) Maritime surveliance rotary UAVs armed with torpedoes most probably joint vanture with ISRAEL able to operate from ships

6) more satellite & IT netwok operated INDIAN NAVY with AWACS & UAV support

7)Ships with more stealth feature & adavnced SAMS & point defence systems for self defence against Submarine launched AsCM

8) Enhancing naval strategic partnerships with ASEAN & South asian countries Navy by selling naval ships & weapons

9) Induction of nuclear subs starting from Akula & Arihant class subs

10) Last but not the least we should maintain good ties with chinese as we dont want an arms race with them as we could not afford that

 

[DrSomnath999]

This is yet ANOTHER needlessly alarmist article.

Exactly

one shoulld note that india & china relationship is more balanced & predictable than thought by OP of this thread

 

[kaykay]

well its true that our submarine fleet will be decreased but I am sure total number will not be any where close to 6-7 as article says....it would be more like 8-9 conventional submarine along with 2-3 nuclear powerd submarines(1 ssn,1 ssbn and other on trials or may even inducted by then)...but again after 2015 number will rise and will be modern fleetswith scorpene class subs and arihant class subs.

 

[DrSomnath999]

India should join this project with US in future

ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE (ASW) CONTINUOUS TRAIL UNMANNED VESSEL (ACTUV)

The Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) is developing an unmanned vessel optimized to robustly track quiet diesel electric submarines. The program is structured around three primary goals:

Explore the performance potential of a surface platform conceived from concept to field demonstration under the premise that a human is never intended to step aboard at any point in its operating cycle. As a result, a new design paradigm emerges with reduced constraints on conventional naval architecture elements such as layout, accessibility, crew support systems, reserve buoyancy and dynamic stability. The objective is to generate a vessel design that exceeds state-of-the art platform performance to provide complete propulsive overmatch against diesel electric submarines at a fraction of their size and cost.

Advance unmanned maritime system autonomy to enable independently deploying systems capable of missions spanning thousands of kilometers of range and months of endurance under a sparse remote supervisory control model. This includes autonomous compliance with maritime laws and conventions for safe navigation, autonomous system management for operational reliability, and autonomous interactions with an intelligent adversary.

Demonstrate the capability of the ACTUV system to use its unique characteristics to employ non-conventional sensor technologies that achieve robust continuous track of the quietest submarine targets over their entire operating envelope.
While the ACTUV program is focused on demonstrating the ASW tracking capability in this configuration, the core platform and autonomy technologies are broadly extendable to underpin a wide range of missions and configurations for future unmanned naval vessels.

The program has four phases. During phase 1, the program refined and validated the system concept and associated performance metrics, completing risk reduction testing to inform program risks associated with submarine tracking sensors and maritime autonomy. In August 2012, DARPA awarded a contract for phases 2-4. The program plans the following in upcoming phases: Design a vessel (Phase 2); Build a vessel (Phase 3) and test the vessel (Phase 4). Operational prototype at-sea testing is expected in mid-2015.
Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV)