India to ink deal for Rafale jets, submarines soon: Navy chief

India is likely to sign two deals with France for 26 new Rafale-M fighter jets and three more Scorpene-class submarines to sharpen its combat capabilities.

India is likely to sign by January 2025 two deals with France for 26 new Rafale-M fighter jets and three more Scorpene-class submarines to sharpen its combat capabilities, navy chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said on Monday, adding that 62 warships and a diesel-electric submarine are under construction at various Indian shipyards, and the government has approved a project to build two nuclear-powered submarines.

In his customary media press conference ahead of Navy Day, Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi said that the Indian Navy was keeping a close watch on extra regional forces in the Indian Ocean Region. (ANI)

In his customary media press conference ahead of the Navy Day, he also said that the Indian Navy was keeping a close watch on extra regional forces in the Indian Ocean Region, including Chinese naval units and “we know who is doing what and where”, and that several Pakistani warships were being built with Chinese support.

India has been in talks with France to build three more Scorpene-class submarines at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.(HT Print)

On the upcoming deals, the navy chief said, “Negotiations for the Rafale-M deal are at an advanced stage and the case will now go to the Cabinet Committee on Security for approval... Both deals should be signed by next month.”

India celebrates December 4 as Navy Day to commemorate Operation Trident –– the navy’s attack on Karachi harbour during the 1971 war with Pakistan. President Droupadi Murmu will be the chief guest at this year’s Navy Day function being held at Puri in Odisha.

India is buying the fighter jets for the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. The deal for the twin-engine deck-based fighters, built for sustained combat operations at sea, is estimated to be worth around ₹50,000 crore. The Rafale-M is being imported as an interim measure to meet the navy’s requirements until India develops its own twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF). The first prototype of TEDBF could make its maiden flight by 2026 and be ready for production by 2031.

Also, India has been in talks with France to build three more Scorpene-class submarines at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai to strengthen its maritime posture in the vast Indian Ocean Region where the challenges include China’s carefully calculated power play for influence and defending the rules-based international order.

In a boost for its underwater capabilities, the navy will soon commission Vagsheer, its sixth and final Kalvari-class (Scorpene) diesel-electric attack submarine under a ₹23,562-crore programme called Project-75.

“The government has approved the construction of two nuclear-powered submarines to be designed and constructed indigenously, showing faith in our in-house capacity, as well as in the larger defence ecosystem of the country. This will substantially galvanise many ancillary industries,” Tripathi said.

The first submarine is expected to be ready by 2036-37 and the second one two years thereafter. The navy’s overall plan is to deploy six such nuclear-powered conventionally armed submarines to deter the country’s adversaries in the Indo-Pacific.

“We have the defence ministry’s acceptance of necessity (AoN) for 31 ships and submarines, all of which will be made in India, including seven stealth frigates under Project-17B and six modern (diesel-electric) submarines under Project-75(I),” he said. Under India’s defence procurement rules, AoN by the defence acquisition council is the first step towards buying military hardware.

The navy chief said that INS Arighaat, India’s second indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, strengthened the country’s nuclear triad (ability to launch nuclear weapons from land, air and sea). On August 29, India commissioned Arighaat, at Visakhapatnam, with defence minister Rajnath Singh then asserting that it will further enhance nuclear deterrence and help establish strategic balance in the region.

Arighaat or S-3 is the second Arihant-class submarine and more advanced than INS Arihant (S-2). The country’s third nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, Aridaman or S-4, is also set to be commissioned next year, followed by a fourth SSBN codenamed S-4*.

India last week tested the 3,500-km range K-4 nuclear-capable missile from INS Arighaat. “The agencies concerned are examining what trajectory the missile took and “soon we will see the results,” he said.

“We have kept a close watch on the overall maritime activity in the Indian Ocean region including that of the People’s Liberation Army (Navy) and the Chinese research and satellite tracking vessels,” the navy chief added.

Many Pakistani warships are being built with Chinese support, he said, adding that this reflected Beijing’s interest in making Pakistan’s navy stronger. “Pakistan Navy aims to become a 50-ship navy. They have chosen weapons over welfare.”