Hard blow to the state company Shipyard. At the end of last week the news was known that not the Spanish company It will not be chosen to build and develop the six submarines for the Indian Navy (P-75L)as stretched. This news has meant a jug of cold water for Spanish interests, since the Navantia project had reached the last cut of the selection of companies.
However, it has been The German TKMS with the Indian company Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL)the one that has taken the award after being analyzed by the proposed by the Ministry of Indian Defense.
In the final decision, many factors have influenced, although one of them – and who has played against Spanish interests – has been the fact that the S-80 submarine is still in an initial phase. In fact, there is currently one in the sea, which has generated some distrust of the project by the Indian authorities, since the project It will cost 5,000 million euros for the Asian country.
Another key conditioning for the Indian Navy to make this decision had to do with the native contents that submarines should have. As explained in their reports, the first submersible It had to have 45%, while the sixth and last one had to increase up to 60%.
Finally, and no less important, from the Asian giant, much importance has been given to the technical characteristics of the submarine Regarding its autonomy and discretion once it is operational (AIP module), Something in which the German proposal has been strengthened.
In fact, as reported from India, this has been one of the most important criteria when opting for one proposal. The strong point that Navantia defended with respect to the other options had to do with Everything that the S-80 submarine had advanced regarding Indian requests.
According to the company responsible for the Indian representatives who came to Spain last year, this ship already had almost all the Requirements required for P-75L, so the final improvement process would be much easier to achieve.
But the German proposal, based on Class 214 and Class 212CD submarines, It was finally, much more interesting and attractive to the Indians. And it is that the German AIP system allows a differential aspect to be carried out, such as Made of being able to recharge the submersible batteries while finding immersion.
Despite the hard stick that has meant from Navantia they consider that it is another step in the consolidation of Spain as a reference in the naval and maritime industry, and instead of considering it as a defeat, They consider that it is a challenge to continue improving along the way of recent years.
