Govt clears building of 6 attack submarines

Context:

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) gave the Indian Navy the go-ahead Friday to select an Indian strategic partner company which, in collaboration with a foreign Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), will build six conventional attack submarines in the country.

Relevance:

GS-III: Internal Security Challenges

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Defence Acquisition Council (DAC)
2. About the 6 conventional attack submarines

Defence Acquisition Council (DAC)

• As an overarching structure, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the Defence Minister is constituted for overall guidance of the defence procurement planning process.
• DAC is the highest decision-making body in the Defence Ministry for deciding on new policies and capital acquisitions for the three services (Army, Navy and Air Force) and the Indian Coast Guard.
• The objective of the Defence Acquisition Council is to ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the Armed Forces in terms of capabilities sought, and time frame prescribed, by optimally utilizing the allocated budgetary resources.
• It was formed, after the Group of Ministers recommendations on ‘Reforming the National Security System’, in 2001, post Kargil War (1999).

Composition of Defence Acquisition Council

1. Defence Minister: Chairman
2. Minister of State for Defence: Member
3. Chief of Army Staff: Member
4. Chief of Naval Staff: Member
5. Chief of Air Staff: Member
6. Defence Secretary: Member
7. Secretary Defence Research & Development: Member
8. Secretary Defence Production: Member
9. Chief of Integrated Staff Committees HQ IDS: Member
10. Director General (Acquisition): Member
11. Dy. Chief of Integrated Defence: Staff Member Secretary

About the 6 conventional attack submarines

• This project envisages indigenous construction of six conventional submarines equipped with the state-of-the-art Air Independent Propulsion system at an estimated cost of Rs 43,000 crore.
• Project 75 India or P75I will be the first under the strategic partnership model, promulgated in 2017 to boost indigenous defence manufacturing.
• The first submarine built under the project is likely to be delivered by 2030.
• The project had been approved in 2007, but remained on the backburner until 2019 when the government approved the Acceptance of Necessity.
• The five OEMs are Rosoboronexport (ROE) of Russia, ThyssenKrupp of Germany, Naval Group of France, Navantia of Spain and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering of South Korea.
• The DAC nod for six conventional submarines came on the day INS Chakra, leased from Russia and one of India’s two nuclear submarines, was spotted off Singapore, reportedly on its way back to Russia — the 10-year lease term is ending soon.

-Source: The Hindu