The SMX31E concept submarine is still 20 years from operational service
By Vikas Gupta
March 1, 2022
At the upcoming Defexpo – 2022, in Gandhinagar from March 10-14, attention will focus on one of the largest pending acquisitions of the Indian Navy. Dubbed Project 75-India, it involves building six conventional submarines in India with cutting-edge technology from a global supplier.
It follows Project 75, in which India is currently building six Scorpene submarines with diesel-electric propulsion – a technology that was outdated even before entering fleet service.
Now Naval Group – a French original equipment manufacturer (OEM) which has partnered with Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai (MDL) for the construction of the Scorpenes – intends to present a submarine so advanced that ‘It will take another 20 years to enter service and it will be as capable and long-lasting as a nuclear ship.
Naval Group’s concept submarine is called SMX31E. It will be become an operational submarine after 10 years of development, and another decade of construction and sea trials.
The SMX31E is neither a nuclear-powered vessel nor an air-independent propulsion (AIP) vessel. Yet Naval Group claims it will be no less capable than these – an all-electric submarine, whose batteries provide enough endurance for over 60 days of operations at 5 knots and over 30 days at 8 knots.
The new SMX will be a large operational vessel weighing 3,200 tons, 77 meters long and about ten meters wide. That’s twice the size of the 1,600-ton Scorpene-class submarines that Naval Group has sold to Chile, Malaysia, Brazil and India.
Even so, the SMX31E will be equipped with just 15 sailors and officers, with room for additional commandos. Based on current developments in submarine technologies, Naval Group plans higher levels of automation for future submarines.
The SMX31E will be a test bed for new technologies which can be adapted, as they are developed, to existing Scorpene or Barracuda submarines. The new technologies could also be put into use in new submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) that Naval Group designs in the future.
“Using advanced artificial intelligence technology, this submarine offers maximum connectivity to interact with the rest of the fleet in a distributed submarine network… The SMX31E can monitor areas 10 times larger than today today with the same efficiency,” Naval Group said in a statement Monday. .
Barracuda Submarines
Naval Group also designs and builds the Barracuda class, a new generation of French fast attack submarines (SSN) equipped with state-of-the-art capabilities, such as anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, deep strike, special operations and intelligence gathering.
The French Navy only operates nuclear submarines and the first Barracuda, the SSN Suffren, was delivered in November 2020. By 2030, six Barracudas will replace the six Rubis-class submarines currently in service.
However, the Indian Navy is monitoring developments around the Barracuda, which has a conventionally powered version built by Naval Group for export markets.
F-21 heavy torpedo
Naval Group is in fierce competition with German submarine experts, Atlas Elektronik, to supply the Indian Navy with torpedoes, which are sorely lacking.
An Indian tender for torpedoes has been out for years but, even though it is the largest torpedo acquisition in the world, it has been held up for a variety of reasons, including the ban that New Delhi imposed on the Finmeccanica group (now Leonardo) after corruption. was detected in the purchase of Agusta Westland helicopters for Indian VVIPs.
“Naval Group, as a manufacturer, integrator and developer of advanced combat management systems for these torpedoes, is also undertaking the complex task of seamlessly integrating this torpedo on board Scorpene submarines,” Naval Group announced on Monday.
Alain Guillou, who oversees the development of Naval Group, said: “Our goal is to continue to work closely with the Indian Navy and Indian industry to prepare for the future evolution of the platforms and to offer the best sub- sailor of the future with advanced propulsions, weapons (F21 torpedo) and latest technologies for future use of the Indian Navy.
