UK proposes building future warships with India

[JAISWAL]

If deal goes through, one of our new pvt sector shipyards could bag contract

With defence ministry shipyards unable to meet the Indian Navy's growing need for warships, New Delhi had no choice but to look to Russian shipyards. Now, with Britain looking to partner India to cut the UK's warship building costs, one of India's new private defence shipyards — which have high-tech facilities but no experience in building large, complex warships — could get the opportunity to build its first line of world-class frigates.

Business Standard has learnt that a cash-strapped UK government has approached New Delhi to jointly design and build a next-generation frigate, designated the Global Combat Ship (GCS). While the UK had originally planned to build this alone (then designated the Type 26 frigate), shrinking defence budgets have forced it to seek international partners. And, India, along with other countries, including Brazil, has been invited into a consortium to design and build the GCS.
The British shipyard that will participate in the GCS project belongs to BAE Systems. The ministry of defence (MoD) in New Delhi will nominate an Indian shipyard. With public sector shipyards unable to deliver even the existing orders on time, South Block has little choice but to turn to one of the three new private defence shipyards — L&T, Pipavav or ABG Shipyard.

"There have been meetings at the government-to-government level. There are continued discussions with the Indian government. There has been clear interest from the Indian Navy. But nobody has made a commitment yet," says Andrew Gallagher, president, BAE Systems India. The response of the other countries approached by the UK is not known.

Senior MoD officials say, off the record, that no decision is imminent on the British offer. But they admit the offer is attractive, since it would provide a learning opportunity for one of India's big new private sector shipyards to gain experience in building frigates.

The three private shipyards already have orders for small vessels for the navy and the coast guard, none larger than a few hundred tonnes. A frigate, which typically weighs 5,000-6,500 tonnes and has complex electronic battle management systems, is far more difficult to design and build.

BAE Systems has described to Business Standard how Whitehall envisages the designing and building of the GCS. The countries that eventually form the consortium would join heads to frame broadly common specifications for the warship. Presently, the GCS is planned as a flexi-role frigate. This means each vessel could be optimised for any one of the three traditional frigate roles: anti-submarine, air defence or general-purpose. To cater for these different roles and the different requirements of participating countries, the basic GCS design would have 80 per cent commonality in design and components, with 20 per cent remaining flexible.

PLUS FOR INDIA
While design responsibility would be shared between consortium members, each country would build its own frigates. This would protect jobs in the politically sensitive warship-building industry in the West. In the case of India, it would develop the capabilities of a fledgling shipyard.

"The Indian Navy has significant warship requirements and so, India would be extremely influential in such a partnership"¦The GCS commonality would generate operational benefits between friendly navies. The additional benefit would be that a user, say the Indian Navy, could logistically support these frigates from ports in friendly foreign countries that operate the same ship," says Gallagher, making the case for India's participation.

For the force structure of Britain's Royal Navy, the GCS, (or Type 26 frigate) is crucial. It survived the UK's budget cuts of 2008, by paring the Royal Navy's order for the successful Type 45 destroyer. Last year, the Type 26 frigate survived the ruthless spending cuts imposed in Britain's Strategic Defence and Security Review. But now, with Whitehall having concluded it cannot go it alone, the partnership of countries like India is essential.

So far, India has entered joint development projects only with Russia and Israel and those in the fields of aeronautics and missiles. But the MoD realises the need to expand warship building to the private sector. Defence shipyards, besides already running to capacity, are plagued by time and cost overruns.

Last week, responding to a question in Parliament, defence minister A K Antony admitted, "The cost escalation in major indigenous warship building projects of the Navy, which are running behind schedule, has already been about 225 per cent for Project-15A (destroyers), about 260 per cent for Project-17 (frigates) and about 157 per cent for Project-28 (anti-submarine corvettes)."

UK proposes building future warships with India

 

[The Messiah]

UK is a sinking ship...best to keep away.

 

[JAISWAL]

UK is a sinking ship...best to keep away.

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Yes, they are but they have a good weapon designing background and they might help Indian pvt. shipyards to gain the experties required to take such warship design and full fill IN's requirement.

 

[The Messiah]

We can already do that...inept govt just needs to invest into R&D rather than buying from the shelf so that they can get kickbacks.

 

[pmaitra]

Looks like their honeymoon with Pakistan is over.

We will consider it, but looking at the state of affairs in Britain, and the quality of their youth, we will have to spend much time in granting the Brits their wish.

 

[Yusuf]

Nothing wrong with partnering with western defense firms as we have a lot to learn though we are pretty good with making warships ourselves. Since they are looking at private partners, it's good that in due course these private yards will be able to offer warships on their own to the IN. I hope it goes through, this deal.

 

[pmaitra]

Nothing wrong with partnering with western defense firms as we have a lot to learn though we are pretty good with making warships ourselves. Since they are looking at private partners, it's good that in due course these private yards will be able to offer warships on their own to the IN. I hope it goes through, this deal.

Yusuf bhai, do you see a potential of you playing a role in supplying iron and steel components in the event large and many ship-building projects come up in India?

Other than that, I think it is a good idea if we can export finished products from our shores; products whose primary raw material is iron and steel instead of exporting the ore itself. We should plan to be an exporter of finished products and generate more jobs in India.

 

[Yusuf]

No mate. No role for me in that. I have a product from Sweden that secures bolts. Those can be used. In fact I had given a presentation to Directorate of Naval Design in Delhi but they are stuck up in old practices and inducting new technology is a long affair and I really don't have the time to keep following up with them.

 

[Ray]

Making India Proud

Vice Admiral (Retd) HS Malhi, Chairman and Managing Director of Mazagon Dock Limited in an exclusive interview to Atul Bhardwaj shares his vision of accomplishing the dreams of making India completely self reliant in the field of warship production with indigenously built weapons systems mounted on the most sophisticated future platforms

PB: Almost four decades earlier, when you started in the Indian Navy as a young officer did you ever imagine that you would be building warships one day?

VAdm Malhi: Not at all. When we joined, we were just looking at what is to be done the next day. At least, I never really looked that far ahead. My close interaction with shipbuilding began in 1994, when I was appointed to the Directorate of Naval Design on completion of my tenure as Fleet Engineering Officer (Western Fleet). Around the same time, my Fleet Commander, Admiral Madhvendra Singh, had taken over as Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition. It was thought that the user's perspective is important and must be taken onboard in the initial stages of warship design.

In fact, the Navy has always had a hands-on approach to warship building and this began with first frigate built in an Indian shipyard, the Nilgiri in 1973. The Indian Navy has always believed in being a Builders' Navy rather than a Buyers' Navy. This ethos of customer's involvement in the shipbuilding and indigenization process has been nurtured by the Navy with both the DRDO, BEL as well as the shipyards.

PB: MDL has completed 50 glorious years, do you feel that it is following the set course?

VAdm Malhi: We completed 50 years as a nationalised PSU in May 2010. We were nationalized on 14 May 1960 with the specific purpose of making warships in the country for the Indian Navy. We have since then made over 30 warships and submarines. We are a mini-ratna company in Schedule 'A' category and have been a profit making company for ten years. We do not take any subsidy from the government. Last year we paid a dividend of Rs. 52.26 crores to the Government of India.

We are the only shipyard in the country that has the skill and expertise necessary to make warships of above frigate size and submarines. Since our inception, we have made six Leander Class and three Godavari Class Frigates and three Delhi Class Destroyers in addition to numerous Corvettes, Offshore Patrol Vessels and Missile Boats. And of course, we constructed two SSK Submarines. Now we are in the process of completing Project 17 that consists of three Stealth Frigates. The first of this class, INS Shivalik was delivered on 29 April 2010. Incidentally, Shivalik is listed as one of the ten best frigates in the world. The second, INS Satpura is to be commissioned on 20 August 2011. "Sahyadri", the last ship in the series is likely to be commissioned during this financial year itself. An order for seven follow-ons of the Stealth Frigates under Project 17A is also likely. Our Project 15A involves building three Destroyers and Project 15B is a follow-on project with four more ships. The follow-ons in some way help us to standardise the hull design and propulsion plant. Shivalik Class and Project 17A have a standardized propulsion plant, that is CODOG (Combined Diesel and Gas Turbine) and similarly Projects 15A and 15B ships have all Gas turbine propulsion.

PB: Is space a constraint for you to expand your capacity and capability to modernize?

VAdm Malhi: We have a major modernization programme underway at the moment, which will enhance our capacity manifold. A new wet basin is being constructed to enable berthing of 4 to 6 ships and submarines during outfitting and integration stage of construction. A 300 ton Goliath Crane is being erected at the South Yard, which will straddle a new Modular Workshop having a retractable roof and two slipways. The major objective is to introduce integrated construction of warships and thus compress time frames of construction. So, there is really no constraint in expanding our capacity.

PB: What modernization plans have you undertaken?

VAdm Malhi: As I have just mentioned, we are planning to introduce modular integrated construction that would reduce the lead time to build ships. This will be undertaken first for Project 17A ships. We will be able to construct warships of 6000 tons in five years. Facilities to enable integrated construction will cost upwards of Rs. 800 crores.

PB: How do you cope with the continuous demand by the users to incorporate every new technological development into the ship that is being built?

VAdm Malhi: The users do change specifications and requirements often and to a large extent, it is justified too. The lead time for constructing a warship is 5 to 7 years and the technology, as you are aware, is evolving at a very rapid pace. To meet this challenge of equipment and systems obsolescence during ship construction, a modular equipment package is envisaged. The basic platform, on which the weapon systems are mounted, does not change at all and that includes the propulsion plants and the power generation systems. However, a facility is provided to mount weapon systems, which came in the form of "snap-on" modules. In this manner, the ship can be fitted with the latest weapon equipment. This concept is being tried out on warships being built in the U.S. The advantage with the American shipyards, of course, is that they get orders in phases for 50 odd ships of the same class to be built, which enables them to fully optimize construction strategies and inventories.

PB: What were the challenges of designing a stealth frigate?

VAdm Malhi: The stealth frigate requires a more nuanced approach towards ship design. The aim is to reduce the Radar-Cross Section (RCS) signature of the ship significantly. We have to be extra careful in equipment installation, so that the noise generated is kept to the absolute minimum and is much below that of a regular warship. The thermal signatures are also suppressed. All these features are essential for a stealth frigate to avoid detection by enemy sensors. All this effort and knowledge acquired by us has played an important role in bringing about a qualitative change in the way we construct ships.

PB: In the 1990s, the orders for submarines had dried up, you were on the verge of losing your skilled manpower and expertise, how did the revival happen.

VAdm Malhi: Yes, the 90's was a lost decade for our shipyard. During that period no submarines got built. Most people, who had attained expertise and skill in submarine construction left and we too had to downsize because there were no orders. It was a great challenge. However, the revival began in the 21st century, when we started rebuilding the skill sets to take up the challenge of building "state-of-the-art" attack submarines. We are now making six Scorpene submarines in collaboration with DCNS, France. We have some of the finest workmen and, even our collaborators attest to that, and we are really very proud of them. I do hope that before this project winds down, the decision is taken for the next lot of submarines, so that we do not have a repeat of the 90's.

PB: To what extent are the ships built by you globalised?

VAdm Malhi: We work with many vendors both foreign as well as local. As far as weapon systems are concerned, the Indian Navy has always endeavoured to have indigenous systems. Firstly, the foreign weapon systems cost exorbitant sums of money and secondly, their supply of spares and reliability when it comes to the crunch can be suspect. Any credible fighting force cannot rely on outsiders for regular supply of spares and upgrades. Keeping this in mind, all ships of Projects 15A, 15B & 17A in pipeline for the Indian Navy have mostly indigenous SSMs, SAMs, Close-in Weapons Systems and associated sensors that have either been developed by DRDO, BEL or in collaboration with foreign manufacturers. As far as propulsion system is concerned, a marinised version of indigenous Kaveri gas turbine is in the works and which, if successful, may prove to be a viable option for future frigates and destroyers........



The first modern warship to be built by the company was the Leander Class frigate "INS Nilgiri". Its design was obtained from the British Admiralty and the frigate itself was built in collaboration with M/s. Vickers Ltd. and M/s. Yarrow (Shipbuilders) Ltd. of Great Britain. Based on the Leander platform, the Design Bureau of the Indian Navy designed a new generation frigate with modifications and a greater content of indigenisation. Mazagon Dock was entrusted with the job. The Godavari class of Frigates were a breakthrough in warship design and construction, as the ships were larger than the Leanders and even though the same propulsion was used, these warships were actually able to generate higher speeds than the Leanders. The first of the class was christened 'INS Godavari'. Two more frigates of this class 'INS Ganga' and 'INS Gomati' were also constructed at MDL.

Mazagon Dock has also constructed one training ship 'Tir' and three 'Khukhri' class of corvettes for the Navy. The Corvettes are smaller warships displacing about 1500 tonnes. Mazagon Dock also built four fast and powerful 1241RE Missile Boats for the Navy. Subsequently, construction of the destroyer class Project-15 ships powered by gas turbines was undertaken. These 6700 tons mammoth destroyer class of warships were the biggest ships built in this part of the world. A dedicated facility for the construction of submarines was set up at MDL and the construction of the first submarine in collaboration with M/s. HDW of Germany commenced in 1984. Two submarines "Shalki" and "Shankul" were constructed here in the early nineties. A new order for constructing six Scorpene class submarines, under a transfer of technology from M/s DCNS of France, was placed on MDL. Production of thse submarines commenced in December 2006.

Presently, MDL is building three-new generation-Shivalik class, stealth frigates for the Navy. The first of the class "Shivalik" was commissioned into the Navy in early in April 2010. The second, Satpura in July 2011. MDL has also started construction of three follow-on destroyers of the "Delhi" Class. The three destroyers 'Kolkata', 'Kochi' and 'Chennai' have been launched and are at different stages of outfitting. Their deliveries will commence from 2012.

Besides warships for the Navy, Mazagon Dock has also constructed a series of Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Coast Guard. These vessels are specialized ships for patrolling, policing, search and rescue operations in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the country. They are also provided with capabilities for pollution control and fire fighting and carry a helicopter on board. The design of these vessels was entirely evolved at Mazagon Dock. Seven Coast Guard Ships, Vikram, Vijaya, Veera, Varuna, Vajra, Vivek and Vigraha, which today form the mainstay of the Coast Guard fleet, were built and delivered between December 1983 and March 1990. Follow on vessels of this class have since been built at the Goa Shipyard under lead yard services provided by us. Mazagon Dock has also completed the construction of two series of Offshore Supply Vessels, comprising seven ships, for the ONGC. In the early part of this decade nine "Border-Outposts" were constructed by MDL for the Border Security Force. These are shallow water craft used as floating police stations, each with four speedboats.

Discovery of oil in Bombay High in the early 70s, opened new vistas for diversification for Mazagon Dock. The company augmented its facilities in 1978 for fabrication of wellhead platforms for the ONGC. Mazagon Dock constructed and installed over 60 platforms, fabricated and delivered 2 Jack-up rigs, 2 single Buoy Mooring Systems, 3 flare tripods, 6 bridges, coated about 700 kms subsea pipe line and laid about 400 kms of subsea pipe line. Jack up rigs "SAGAR UDAY" and "SAGAR KIRAN" constructed by Mazagon Dock for the ONGC are the first ever jack-up rigs to be built in India.

Besides, MDL has constructed several kinds of commercial craft like barges, cargo ships, dredgers water tankers and police launches for various countries like the United Kingdom, Iran, France and Mozambique.

A state-of-the-art cutter Suction Dredger was built and delivered to the Dredging Corporation of India in 2010. MDL is currently building two MSVs for a Singapore based company. An order for four follow-on destroyers of the 'Kolkata' class has been recently signed. An order for at least four of the proposed seven follow-on frigates of the 'Shivalik' class is also expected later on in the year. With these orders MDL will become the most highly loaded warship-building yard in the world.

In 2010, MDL celebrated its Golden Jubilee as a Public Sector Undertaking.

The genesis of Naval design

By Cdr PVS Satish

The early vision of the Naval planners for a 'Builders Navy', led to the formation of the Corps of Naval Constructors in November 1956, followed by setting up of a small 'Central Design Office' in 1964. This Central Design Office which emerged as the Directorate of Naval Design(DND) in 1970 formed the nucleus of all warship design activities in the country. Subsequently it was upgraded to be headed by a Director General Naval Design (DGND), in 1976.

Formative years - sparking a new fire

Warship building was ushered into the country with the licence production of Leander class frigates in the 1960s.

With a modest beginning of designing small craft and other auxiliary vessels, the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) made its first mark by designing the 1800 tonnes survey vessel of the Sandhayak class in the early 70s. Eight ships of the class are still in service and are the work horses of the nation for hydrographic surveys.

The Godavari class was the first major warship design undertaken by DND in late 70s. Three Vessels of the class built at the Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), Mumbai are in service for the last over 20 Years. The highlight of this design was the use of the propulsion plant of the smaller Leanders to drive a larger hull with 1000 tonne more displacement and still achieve a better top speed performance.

The highlight of DND's creations so far has been the design of the Delhi class destroyers. The lead ship of the class – INS Delhi successfully sailed through one the most severe cyclonic storms in the South China Sea in 2001, bearing testimony to the remarkable structural reliability of the hull designed by the Indian Naval Designers.

These majestic ships are the proud ambassadors of the combat might of the Indian Navy. Their sleek hulls with aggressive bows, carrying a formidable array of weapons and sensors, won considerable international admiration during deployments abroad.

Till date, 17 different designs ranging from small craft to destroyers have been designed by the Navy's Design Organisation, to which more than 80 of warships have been built.

New Breed–Sleek, Stealthy and Sophisticated

The beginning of the 21st century has marked a new chapter in the history of indigenous warship design and construction. Modern concepts of 'stealth' and enhanced survivability are being incorporated from the very early stages of the design.

AoN has also been accorded in February 2009 for building 04 P15B destroyers (Follow on of P15A) at MDL

Core Design Capabilities-The Future Beckons

The evolving technologies and need for sophistication in future naval combatants, demand considerable expertise in the core areas of Hydrodynamics, hull form design, structures, propulsion and stealth.

To meet these challenges, a number of specialist groups have been created in the DND to consolidate, nurture and enhance expertise in these core areas of design.
:: Welcome to Purple Beret ::

This is an excellent article from the magazine Purple Beret which is conceived by a Naval Officer and has many defence professionals contributing articles of interest.

This is an excerpt of an article that I thought is very educative and would be in context with the thread.

Read the whole article from the link.

It will give a better insight of the naval ship building capability of India to some extent.

 

[Ray]

The Indian ship building industry has adequate expertise, but the moot point is whether the ships required can be churned out as per the requirement of the threat envisaged by the Navy.

To be a Blue Water Navy of consequence, the number of ships and the requirement for maintenance and refit would possibly mean having more shipyards that construct naval ships.

The UK has a historical lineage in the production of quality naval vessels and the British shipyards are lying idle. Some good and hard bargaining will ensure adding naval vessels to the Indian fleet commensurate to the timeframe desired to make the Indian Navy a reckonable Blue Water Navy.

 

[debasree]

why dont they shift their ship building capacity to india ,we will whole heartedly embrass it.

 

[Yusuf]

why dont they shift their ship building capacity to india ,we will whole heartedly embrass it.

Embrace or embarrass we don't have the capacity for out own requirement let alone service others.

 

[Neil]

Embrace or embarrass we don't have the capacity for out own requirement let alone service others.

but yusuf bhai thats because all major warship contracts goes to public shipbuilders...we dont use are private facilities which are much bigger than public for such jobs...

 

[lalitghag]

Hey friend Good News for our Navy. Pl go though this news
UK proposes building future warships with India

As we know our public ship yard are already full with there capacity this could help us to achieve our targets. But lot on depend on our government whether they are giving free hand to private shipyard or not?

 

[JAISWAL]

Hey friend Good News for our Navy. Pl go though this news
UK proposes building future warships with India

As we know our public ship yard are already full with there capacity this could help us to achieve our targets. But lot on depend on our government whether they are giving free hand to private shipyard or not?

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Bhai thats what had been posted on the first post of this thread.
I hope you had read it.

 

[Yusuf]

but yusuf bhai thats because all major warship contracts goes to public shipbuilders...we dont use are private facilities which are much bigger than public for such jobs...

The private ones are newer ones and their expertise in making large warships is unproven. This project of partnership will help these private players to absorb latest technology so that in the future they are ready to handle large Indian warships on their own and in quantity. These private shipyards are really important for the future of our navy as we look to add numbers and quality to become a blue water navy.

 

[agentperry]

good oppertunity for india. once you are making warship for a P-5 country you automatically get a very strong backing in the market so next time if our shipyards bid for the warship making for any other country then they have a strong experience in their profile and so good backing and higher possibility for getting the contract.
domestic shipyard of every country make ships for their country but one making for others is perceived better than others.

here this chance is more unique because once india validate its capability to make foreign ships many of the other western countries will follow and indian shipping will boom. moreover not at least in next 1-2 decades i see western countries going to china for making their def platforms and the reason we all know

 

[Yusuf]

moreover not at least in next 1-2 decades i see western countries going to china for making their def platforms and the reason we all know

You have got to be kidding me. Outsource defense contracts to China? That too a decade from now when we will be in the midst of another cold war?

 

[lalitghag]

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Bhai thats what had been posted on the first post of this thread.
I hope you had read it.

I had posted this yesterday in new post i dont know how it has merged with your post.

 

[sob]

No mate. No role for me in that. I have a product from Sweden that secures bolts. Those can be used. In fact I had given a presentation to Directorate of Naval Design in Delhi but they are stuck up in old practices and inducting new technology is a long affair and I really don't have the time to keep following up with them.

Do you mean Hydraulic bolt tensioners. If yes they are used by the shipyard for tightening the bolts on the couplings.