EXPLAINER: Growing military ties with Germany, a collaborator in India's latest submarine project

About six months after Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and India's public sector Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) cleared a bid to jointly build six submarines for the Indian Navy, the Central Government has given the go ahead to begin formal negotiations to carry the acquisition process forward.

The TKMS-MDL joint venture was the only one to clear the Navy's field trials, coming ahead of Navantia, a Spanish state-owned company associated with military and civilian shipbuilding and advanced defense systems, which had joined hands with India's Larsen and Toubro.

As part of Project-75 (India), valued at Rs 70,000 crore, TKMS — a group engaged in the construction of ships and submarines that was founded when industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp acquired Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in January 2005 — will collaborate to manufacture the submarines in India. HDW, incidentally, is the same company that had supplied four Type-209 Sishumar Class submarines to the Indian Navy in the 1980s.

The negotiations between the Ministry of Defence, MDL and TKMS are expected to begin by the end of this month and are expected to take 6-8 months, after which, on receiving final government approval, a contract will be signed for the works to commence.

A peep inside Project 15 (I)

The project was originally conceived way back in 1997, with the aim to procure six conventionally-powered attack submarines to replace the Indian Navy’s ageing Soviet-origin Kilo Class boats, also known locally as the Sindhughosh Class.

The programme has experienced considerable delay due to bureaucratic red tape, inadequate planning and a lack of corporate competitiveness. The six submarines, which were originally planned to become operational in the mid-2020s, are now expected to enter service by the mid-2030s.

In 1997, the Cabinet Committee on Security had approved the construction of two Type-209 attack submarines at MDL with the assistance of a foreign naval firm. Thomson-CSF (TCSF) of France was the only firm willing to collaborate in the project.

Two years later, the MoD approved a two-phase plan to construct 24 submarines domestically over a 30-year period. In the first phase involving the construction of two Type-209s, two options were proposed. One was construction of Type-209s at MDL in collaboration with TCSF and the other was construction of submarines based on the newer Scorpène design.

The Indian Navy opted for the second proposal on the grounds that the Scorpène was more advanced than the Type-209 and also had the benefit of transfer of technology. The move to collaborate with TCSF was shelved in April 2001 and negotiations for the procurement of the Scorpène design under the first phase, christened Project-75 (P-75), began in November 2001.

The second phase, named Project-75 (India) or P-75(I), was to be undertaken simultaneously with P-75, with both projects envisioned to deliver 18 attack submarines by 2030. However, due to financial constraints, only P-75 was then sanctioned.

In July 2010, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) accorded the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), that is in-principle agreement, for the P-75(I). But delays over selection of collaborators, official clearances, changes in regulations and revisions in specifications continued to dodge the programme. There was even a complaint by a competitor about irregularities and ambiguity in the entire selection process.

If the stipulated timeline is adhered to, the first P-75(I) submarine would be delivered about seven years after the contract is signed, that is in 2032-33, and with a total project cost that is 27,000 crore higher than the original estimation of Rs 43,000 crore.

According to reports, TKMS had offered a customised design based on the Type 214 submarine, also developed by HDW and a more advanced variant of the Type-209. With an estimated displacement of 3,000 tonnes, the new Indian submarines are expected to have a longer and more imposing hull designed to reduce acoustic footprint.

Reports also suggest that the submarine will be armed with 18 heavyweight torpedoes and 12 land attack or anti-ship cruise missiles. It will also feature air-independent propulsion and diesel-electric propulsion, enabling it to remain submerged for up to three weeks at a stretch, significantly boosting the Indian Navy’s operational capability.

The submarine’s design and technology could also assist feature in Project-76, a programme to design and construct an entirely indigenous next-generation conventional diesel-electric submarine. The programme envisions 12 such submarines. Alongside conventional boats, construction of two nuclear-powered attack submarines is also underway at Indian shipyards.

India – Germany military cooperation

The Indian Navy launched its submarine fleet in December 1967 with the Soviet Origin Foxtrot class submarines and for long Soviet/Russian submarines were the mainstay of its underwater capability. When INS Shishumar, the first of the four Type-209 boats from Germany was commissioned in September 1986, it was the first western submarine to be inducted. The second type of western origin submarines are the six French Scorpenes and the third western type being proposed is again of German origin.

While Indo-German bilateral relations spanning commercial, cultural and technological domains have traditionally been strong, military cooperation between the two countries has till recently remained limited due to geo-political factors. The acquisition of the Type-209s in the 1980s was the first major, albeit rare military deal with Germany.

Forming the frontline between NATO and Warsaw Pact during the post World War-II Cold-War era, Germany had largely remained focused on European security with no strategic footprint in the Asia–Pacific region, while India depended upon the Soviet Union for military supplies. Even in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, Germany was critical of India’s intervention to liberate Bangladesh and in 1998, had flayed India’s nuclear tests.

Geopolitical shifts and global reordering, particularly Russia's war in Ukraine and China's growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region, and other common areas of concern like terrorism and cyber security are now driving transformation in military ties.

Both countries consult each other and coordinate positions in multilateral forums, including the G20 and the UN, on global issues. Given its key role in the European Union, India considers Germany among its most important partners in Europe. Germany now sees India as a key partner to counter some of the strategic challenges it faces.

In September 2006, India and Germany signed the Bilateral Defence Cooperation Agreement, followed by the Agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information in October 2007, which provide the framework for bilateral defence ties.

The Indian and the German Navy conducted joint-exercises in 2008 for the first time, following an anti-piracy co-operation agreement between the two nations signed in 2006. High level visits at the level of defence minister, service chiefs, participation in bilateral and multi-lateral exercises and port calls by naval ships have since followed.

To further enhance the defence industry and defence cooperation between Germany and India, the Arrangement on Implementation of the Agreement of 2006 concerning Bilateral Defence Cooperation was signed in February 2019 in Berlin.

Policy Initiatives:

In 2024, the German Cabinet adopted the "Focus on India" paper, emphasising stronger defense ties to ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific. It aims for cooperation in arms, joint military presence and logistical support.

The same year, India and Germany also proposed to sign a memorandum of arrangement for mutual logistical support to strengthen military cooperation, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. Germany will post a permanent liaison officer to India’s Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region.