France offers India deal to make 6 nuclear submarines
Source – Firstpost
The Indian Navy, which is undergoing a modernisation process, may get yet another boost as France has offered a major nuclear submarine deal to India.
As part of the deal, France will become a part of India’s program to develop 6 nuclear submarines and has also offered to share conventional technology from its Barracuda-class nuclear submarine program.
This development may come as a nasty shock for China, which had suffered a jolt a couple of days when the United States (US) pledged to give five nuclear submarines to Australia as part of the AUKUS deal.
With both India and Australia in line to get nuclear submarines for their respective navies, China may find it difficult to maintain its domination in the Indo-Pacific region in the future.
If the Indian Navy decides to go along with the proposal by France, it will be another feather in the cap for the Atmanirbhar Bharat (Make in India) initiative of the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Under the Project 75 Alpha program, which is a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat (Make in India) initiative, the Indian Navy aims to procure six nuclear-powered submarines. The government of India had approved the project in February 2015.
These submarines were to be designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house Directorate of Naval Design and construction was originally scheduled to start on 2023-24 at the Shipbuilding Centre at Visakhapatnam. The original schedule envisaged the first submarine to enter service in 2032.
France’s offer to India is similar to a deal it had offered to Brazil earlier, which is also developing its first nuclear submarine with French assistance.
The French offer to India includes the overhauled design based on its Barracuda-class submarine for a new submarine class. This new submarine will feature pump-jet propulsion along with a 190 MW Pressurized water reactor which is currently being developed by state-owned nuclear company BARC in consultation with Russian state-owned companies.
