India has launched a second French Scorpène -class submarine
built at its shipyards but is faced with an embarrassing scenario: the
torpedoes for this advanced submarine are nowhere to be found.
The reason: the Ministry of Defense (MoD),
moving at its traditional leisurely pace, failed to approve the $200 million
tender it received five years ago to buy the Italian-made Black
Shark heavyweight torpedoes that was to have armed this submarine, the INS
Khanderi (S-51). MoD has put the tender on hold.
Khanderi was launched Jan. 12; will be
delivered to the Indian Navy by mid-year and will be commissioned into the navy
in December. There is little chance the Black Shark torpedoes will reach the
submarine this year.
The navy has ordered 98 of these
fiber-optic wire heavyweight torpedoes developed by Whitehead Alenia Sistemi
Subacquei Italy. Black Shark, which is 6.3 meters long, can destroy targets as
far away as 50 kilometers.
The Khanderi is among six Scorpène-class
submarines being built by MDL under a $3.5 billion contract signed in 2004
between India and DCNS of France. The first of Scorpene-class sub, the
INS Kalvari (S-50) is at sea but hasn't yet been commissioned into the navy.
The Scorpène building program is years behind schedule, a delay attributed to a variety of reasons,
one of which the low-level absorption of complex technology and procurement of
MDL-purchased materials.
Source :- Yibada
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