French submarines compete strongly with Russian submarines on the international marketRussia occupies a significant share of the global market for diesel-electric submarines (diesel-electric submarines), but is experiencing difficulties with its retention due to increasing competition from leading Western European manufacturers.
Domestic shipbuilders have already lost twice to the French in the international competition for the best offer for the DPL. Malaysia did not consider the 636M project developed by the Central Design Bureau of Marine Technology "Rubin", preferring Scorpene (translated from French – "sea urchin") from Naval Group. Two such submarines (Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak) were built in 2004-2008 under a contract for 1 billion euros.
India also rated Scorpene above Project 636 in the framework of the international tender Project 75. To date, there are four similar DPLS in the national naval forces. The sailors took the first hull from the industry in 2017, the second – in 2019, the third and fourth - in 2021. The delivery of the fifth boat was expected before the end of 2022, but so far no such reports have been received. The sixth building has been launched, its transfer will take place next summer.
A feature of Project 75 is the fact that all the "scorpions" for the Indian fleet are assembled at the facilities of the local shipbuilding giant Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) in Mumbai (Bombay). At the same time, the program is being implemented with great delays and cost overruns. In 2005, the customer calculated the project based on the cost of 500 million euros for a boat with delivery in 2012-2016. According to other sources, the French have requested 2.4 billion euros for six submarines. According to local newspapers, by 2017 the total cost of the project had grown to $5.3 billion.
The topic of licensed assembly has come to the fore again thanks to Project 75i, according to which the next six DPLS will be built on the capacities of the local industry according to a foreign project. But the choice of a shipyard and a foreign partner was greatly delayed. The rules of the competition have been seriously revised several times.
The government in Delhi is ready to spend $ 8.1 billion on the project, provided that a foreign developer agrees and makes it possible to assemble all six boats at Indian shipyards, guaranteeing the quality of their products. Naval Group expressed readiness to consider the option of continuing the release of "scorpen" on MDL, and as an alternative – a more modern project Shortfin Barracuda.
However, both French submarines, as well as the Russian Amur-1650 competing with them (the export version of the Lada 677 project), do not satisfy an important condition of the organizers of the competition – the presence on board of a prototype boat of an operating air-independent power plant (VNEU). There were few foreign firms able to fulfill these and other wishes of Delhi. This, in turn, contradicts the desire of the organizers of the tender to maintain high competition among suppliers in order to bring down the price.
The trendsetter of the world fashionThe majority of citizens of the Fifth Republic are convinced patriots of their country.
They call it "sweet France" (La Douce France) and "the land of human rights" (Le Pays des Droits de L'Homme), because here, during the revolution of 1789, the Declaration of Human and Civil Rights appeared. They like that Paris has firmly won international recognition as a trendsetter of world fashion and perfume capital. Patriotic Frenchmen are also proud of the fact that local shipbuilders were the first to design and build a diesel-electric submarine. Aigrette ("Aigrette") was launched first (in February 1904), and another, under the designation Z., was delivered to the customer (June 1904). Since the first name is more euphonious, historians tend to give it precedence.
Before that, the French, Americans, Russians, and the British built submarines with steam or gasoline engines. As soon as the first diesel submarines entered service, it became clear that diesel is much better suited for a submarine. Soon, all shipbuilders in the world abandoned gasoline engines in favor of diesel engines.
Although the French built quite a lot of interesting submarines, their participation in the First and Second World Wars was not marked by any notable successes.
The post-war period is characterized by the intensive development of the national defense industry, with the expectation of export. For the sake of promoting their products, the French willingly agreed to build boats of their project at the sites of a foreign customer – in Spain, Pakistan and India.
An example is a Daphne-type DAPH ("Daphne") with a total displacement of 1000 tons. 11 such submarines were built for the French Navy, 10 for export (Pakistan – 3, Portugal – 4, South Africa – 3), the latter lasted in service until 2010. During the 1971 war between India and Pakistan, the Hangor submarine sank the Indian frigate INS Khukri with a torpedo. Subsequently, this moment was used to promote French submarines to the world market. An important milestone was the deal with Spain for the construction of four such submarines at the shipyard in Cartagena – the first experience of licensed production of boats of the French project.
The next project, the Agosta, was built for the main customer (four units, in service from 1971 to 2001) and for Pakistan (two, commissioned in 1980, in service). Spain assembled four in Cartagena (1983-1985), of which two remain in service. France responded to Pakistan's request to establish a licensed release. After long negotiations, the agreement was signed in 1992. By that time, the project was outdated, so the customer was offered an Agosta-90B variant with improved characteristics. Due to high automation, the crew was reduced from 54 to 36 people. Improvements (2001) included the possibility of firing SM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles from under water by means of torpedo tubes. The French also promised the customer to ensure the installation of a MESMA-type VNEU, which served as a good marketing move. In fact, neither the S137 Khalid built in France, nor the S138 Saad (2002) and S139 Hamza (2006) assembled in Pakistan received VNEU. During the implementation process, the cost of the project (initially $ 520 million) increased by $ 950 million for technology transfer and granting the right to export Pakistani products to third countries. France provided loans with a repayment period of seven years, without which the project would not have been implemented. The Pakistanis' hopes for exports were not justified, and their own fleet refused further purchases. The customer's disappointment was reflected in the results of the 2018 competition for the extension of service life and modernization of three buildings – it was won not by the French, but by the Turkish firm STM (together with HAVELSAN, ASELSAN and other suppliers).
It is important that Pakistan and France have gradually nullified their cooperation in this area. Perhaps this was the result of pressure on Paris from Delhi. India is bigger than Pakistan and is developing more dynamically, its defense spending is much higher. France is a traditional supplier of weapons to India, and it does not want to lose its position in this market. If Delhi really put the issue on the edge, Paris most likely conceded. One way or another, France has lost Pakistan as a buyer of submarines – Islamabad sees the future of its submarine fleet in cooperation with Beijing.
However, the Naval Group firm has no big reasons for frustration, since it has received lucrative Indian contracts.
The Indian WayThe first submarines of the Indian Navy were 10 Soviet project 641I, delivered in the 1960s.
They were intensively exploited until decommissioning at the turn of the century.
In the 70s of the last century, Delhi held a competition among submarine suppliers. It was decided to purchase 10 Project 877 diesel–electric submarines from the Soviet Union, 2 type 209 from Germany and build a couple more under license at its own facilities.
The local industry received the first experience of licensed assembly of submarines as part of a package deal with the German firm Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW). On the basis of the original type 209 DPL, designed by the ILK Design Lubeck design bureau (from HDW), the HDW-1500 project was developed, increased to 1660 tons of full displacement. The first pair (S44 Shishumar and S45 Shankush) was built in 1986 at the German shipyard in Kiel. The second pair (S46 Shakli and S47 Shankul) was assembled from German components in Bombay under the supervision of HDW specialists.
During the implementation of the project, numerous facts of non-compliance with contractual obligations, as well as a corruption component, were revealed. They were made public and caused a violent reaction of the Indian society. The plan to build another pair of boats on MDL had to be canceled. The entire program of cooperation with HDW was declared a failure due to cost overruns, proven cases of bribery and failure by the industry to fulfill its obligations to the customer.
Normal relations with HDW were resumed only in 2017, when it was decided to modernize all four boats. It included the installation of a different BIOS (from Atlas Electronix), new Carl Ziess periscopes and extendable devices (Gabler). Much attention is paid to ensuring the possibility of firing American Harpoon-Ex anti-ship missiles from SUT-B torpedo tubes.
India bought 10 DPLS of the 877EKM project in the USSR and Russia, they were accepted in the period from 1986 to 2000. One (S63 Sindhurakshak) died on August 13, 2013 from an internal explosion, 18 crew members were killed. The tragedy happened when the boat was moored at a shipyard in Mumbai. According to one version, a promising torpedo of local design prepared for testing detonated, there is no official confirmation yet.
One boat of Project 877 was transferred to Burma (Myanmar) in 2021, which reduced the number of the Indian fleet to 8, but not all remained combat ready due to the overhaul not carried out on time. The situation is gradually improving due to the involvement of the CSR "Zvezdochka" in the work, whereas previously similar work was planned to be carried out at Indian enterprises. During the overhaul, all boats for launching Club-S missiles were finalized, new sonar and periscopes were installed.
Delhi preferred ParisAlthough the Type 209 and Project 877EKM boats have proven themselves well in operation, Delhi was dissatisfied with cooperation with both Berlin and Moscow.
Therefore, it was decided to carry out the next project with France. Moreover, there at the turn of the century, the development of the next generation of DPL was actively conducted. Moreover, Paris agreed to organize the licensed release of Scorpene at the facilities of the state plant in Bombay. Although there is no official confirmation of this, but in fact France paid for an entrance ticket to the Indian market of underwater equipment by curtailing a similar program in Pakistan.
It is important to note that the Scorpene became the first class of French DAPL, which were created exclusively for sale abroad. Towards the end of the last century, the French Navy decided to completely switch to nuclear submarines (submarines). Accordingly, the Scorpene project completed at that time was the first, initially export-oriented. With a total displacement of 2,000 tons, the lod is armed with six torpedo tubes with 18 units of ammunition, including SM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles.
The Scorpene project began as a joint development of a Franco-Spanish joint venture between DCNS and Navantia Armaris. The Spanish Navy wanted to purchase 4 boats for 400 million euros each, but in 2003 the plans changed. After the collapse of the joint venture, all rights were transferred to DCNS, which soon changed its name to Naval Systems, and recently to Naval Group. As far as we know, the divorce turned out to be painful, so much so that to this day Spanish and French shipbuilders behave in a hostile manner. Perhaps this explains the appearance of a sensation: in 2016, the Australian newspaper published separate pages of materials on the "scorpion" with the claim that more than 22,400 pages of secret documentation were leaked. Analysis of the data showed that the materials belong to one of the first versions of the project, that is, when the Spaniards had access to it.
The Scorpene-type Tun Abdul Razak submarine was acquired by Malaysia for half a billion euros. Photo by Vladimir Karnozov The first pair of Scorpene-type boats was built for Chile in 1999-2006.
It was followed by a pair for Malaysia. The Indian order for Scorpene was placed in 2005 following the results of the Project 75 tender. The implementation of this deal was under threat more than once, but the French managed to rectify the situation.
The 2005 contract included a clause according to which part of the boats were supposed to be equipped with a MESMA-type VNEU. However, the Naval Group managed to "get out" so as not to fulfill the promise of installing an additional compartment with an anaerobic installation on these boats. By 2021, it became clear that the creators of the Indian version of the VNEU (MESMA no longer suits the customer with its parameters) did not have time to finish all the work necessary for their line by the time the formation of the sections of the last sixth building was completed. It is said about the possibility of embedding an additional compartment at the stage of overhaul of boats, but this scenario is doubtful. Most likely, all six boats will serve in the Indian Navy without an anaerobic power plant.
Despite a five-year delay in deliveries and cost overruns, Delhi is generally satisfied with cooperation with Paris. Huge difficulties with mastering the construction of boats of the French project have been passed, their operation has begun. This is very pleasing, first of all, to the MDL management. The fleet is also pleased, because it still receives new, fairly modern ships to replace the obsolete and battered in operation, the German Type 209. It also becomes possible to reduce the number of Russian DPLS of the 877EKM project by writing off the oldest buildings, whose maintenance is costly.
Interestingly, in terms of armament, the Indian scorpions do not surpass the old German Type 209, after the latter were modified to launch American Harpoon anti-ship missiles from torpedo tubes. French boats carry similar (but still inferior in characteristics) SM39 type RCC. The torpedo arsenal is limited to old German SUT products, since the Indian Navy abandoned previously selected (and more advanced) Blackshark torpedoes for Scorpene in light of the consequences of another corruption scandal.
It seems that the Indian Navy is satisfied with the scenario of the complete withdrawal of German boats by 2025 and the gradual decommissioning of the 877EKM project, since they are being replaced by six French ones. If all German and Russian boats are decommissioned, the strength of the submarine fleet will remain due to the commissioning of nuclear submarines built according to national projects. Even under such a pessimistic scenario, the Indian submarine fleet will retain quantitative, and most importantly, qualitative superiority over the Pakistani Navy. As for the issue of deterring China, here, too, the emphasis is on quality – the commissioning of nuclear-powered submarines with cruise and ballistic missiles on board.
The Indian market remains promising for the French. There is a high probability that Delhi will refuse to hold an international tender Project 75i for six submarines of the next generation and will instead issue MDL a task to continue the construction of a Scorpene-type DPL. This will be a logical and reasonable step.
BrazilChilean and Malaysian boats were built in France, and Brazil wanted to follow the path of India – to collect Scorpene on its territory.
A contract has been signed on this topic: to build four buildings for $ 10 billion. In addition, Naval Group promised to assist Brazilians in the implementation of the national nuclear submarine project.
Brazil decided to tackle the topic of underwater shipbuilding at the turn of the century, immediately deciding that the prospect was for a nuclear power plant. The justification is a long sea border, convenient access to the World Ocean. Brazil chose France as a partner. The scheme was supposed to be as follows: first, local shipbuilders master the diesel-electric version of the Scorpene, then – with the VNEU, and then – with a nuclear reactor. As an anaerobic system, the French MESMA, using a turbine like on French nuclear-powered ships, was quite suitable. But Brazil undertook to make a ship reactor on its own.
Here it is necessary to make an explanation. Diesel-electric submarines are significantly inferior to nuclear-powered ships in terms of navigation range (due to the need to replenish diesel fuel reserves) and energy (onboard systems, as well as electric motors for underwater and surface running, are powered by current from batteries). Underwater autonomy and power reserve are limited by the capacity of electric batteries, which require regular recharging using on-board diesel generators. Since the latter requires atmospheric air, the boat has to float to the surface or use a device to operate the engine underwater (RDP, "snorkel") and, while the batteries are being charged, stay at shallow depth. A high speed under water (the maximum figure, as a rule, does not exceed 20 knots against 30 or more for submarines) can be maintained for a very short time.
All these circumstances were taken into account by the Brazilian Government. According to the contract, four hulls are assembled at local shipyards under the supervision of a French developer company. The latter also promised assistance with the implementation of a submarine variant with a nuclear reactor.
As of 2022, the work is being carried out with a large backlog. Construction of the first Riachuelo diesel–electric submarine began in 2010, launching in 2019. Only in September 2022, Riachuelo entered service. What will be the appearance of the next Brazilian-built submarine is not completely clear. The topic of setting up a VNEU for it is not covered.
The first nuclear-powered boat of the Brazilian navy is designed to be the Alvaro Alberto. It has been under construction since 2018, launching is scheduled for 2027. The length of the submarine is 100 meters, the displacement is 6000 tons. Today, the deadline for the adoption of Álvaro Alberto is after 2030. The entire project is estimated at $7 billion.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited Moscow in mid-February 2022. He asked the head of the Russian state to help with the project of creating a nuclear submarine. Anyway, that's what the newspaper Folha de São Paulo wrote. It is argued that one of the many problems of the implementation of the nuclear shipbuilding program is related to the certification of the fuel used. Folha de São Paulo further writes that the appeal to Putin was made after the US refused to help Brazil with the implementation of its ambitious program.
It is known that in 2021 Brazil began testing a nuclear power plant. How they go is unknown, but, according to local media, extensive Russian experience can help the case. The talks between Bolsonaro and Putin took three hours, and then the guest was called to the office of the President of the Russian Federation for inspection. Commenting on the meeting, the distinguished guest called the Russian leader "one of the most powerful people in the world." Bolsonaro regarded his visit to Moscow as a signal to the whole world about the good prospects of relations between the two countries.
PerspectiveTaking into account the modernization, Scorpene will retain its export potential for some time.
It uses a completely modern multi–mode Magtronic electric motor of the French company Jeumont Electric - a multiphase synchronous alternating current electric motor with permanent magnetic excitation.
At the same time, the prospect of developing the non-atomic direction of French shipbuilding is associated with the implementation of the project of the diesel–electric version of the Barracuda submarine (the lead ship is Suffren /Suffren). Australia was supposed to be the first buyer (the Shortfin Barracuda version was intended for it), but in September 2021 it refused the corresponding contract (Project SEA1000), deciding to purchase nuclear submarines from the United States and Great Britain. Despite this, Naval Group said it would continue work on the non-nuclear Barracuda with the prospect of selling to other foreign buyers.
In principle, such a development is possible, especially since the Naval Group did not return the prepayment to Australia, and the new prime minister even promised to pay "compensation" for the refusal of the previous government from the contract. The sums involved are considerable, which creates a financial basis for the implementation of the project. At the same time, no one has previously converted a nuclear boat into a conventional one (it is easier to re–design), with one exception - the French completed their first-born atomic (Gymnôte) as an experimental diesel boat.
Let's summarize. France is a serious competitor of Russia in the international market of underwater equipment. This was manifested in the fact that her project Scorpene was the winner in international competitions, where domestic developments also participated. But our country has an important advantage – higher serial production, provided, among other things, by state defense orders.
In the new century, France built two strategic missile cruisers (Vigilant, Terrible) and a multi–purpose nuclear submarine Suffren for its own fleet plus four Scorpene submarines for foreign customers (two Chilean and two Malaysian) - a total of seven.
Under the licensed production line, Pakistan assembled two DPLS (Saad in 2002 and Hamza in 2006) according to the French project Agosta-90B, India - four Scorpene (2017-2022), Brazil – Riachuelo (2022). In total, seven licensed submarines are obtained. In total, we get three nuclear and 10 diesel submarines, a total of 14. Meanwhile, during the same time, Russia has built the same number of nuclear-powered submarines alone (mainly of the Borey and Ash types).
The total number of the Varshavyanka family of diesel-electric submarines built by the beginning of 2023 is 73. The most advanced representative of this series of project 636.3 diesel–electric submarines has a surface displacement of 2,350 tons, an underwater displacement of 3,950 tons, a speed of 19 knots, a crew of 52 people, armament – 6 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber with ammunition of 18 torpedoes and missiles of the Kalibr–PL complex. Note that in terms of size and composition of weapons, the domestic boat has a significant superiority over the Scorpene.
Only according to the basic project 636 and its variants, 20 submarines were built for export and 10 (project 636.3 alone) for the Russian Navy, a total of 30 (including 28 commissioned this century).
As of January 2023, all foreign contracts for the supply of Project 636 diesel fuel have been fulfilled. Currently, the production facilities of Admiralty Shipyards JSC in St. Petersburg are fully loaded with orders from domestic sailors. Six ships of Project 636.3 were built here for the Black Sea Fleet (adopted in 2014-2016).
The construction of new hulls under the improved project 636.3 for the Pacific Fleet continues. The first three ships were commissioned in 2019-2021. And in November 2022, the Pacific Fleet was replenished with the fourth – Ufa.
In addition to 10 ships of Project 636.3 in the new century, Admiralty Shipyards built three boats of Project 677 for the Russian Navy (St. Petersburg, Kronstadt and Velikiye Luki), a total of 13 DPLS. And if we take into account other sites (in Severodvinsk and Nizhny Novgorod), then since the beginning of the XXI century, 19 DPL projects 636 and 877EKM have been exported. Together with the completed orders of the Russian Navy, we receive: 29 Warshavyanka family and 3 Lada. Together with the experimental submarine "Sarov", 33 DPLS are obtained.
It follows from the above statistics that the pace of underwater shipbuilding in Russia significantly exceeds those in France. Potentially higher seriality gives us an advantage in terms of the cost of a unit of serial production and in the quality of manufacture. It remains only to competently realize these and other advantages in the course of competition for sales markets abroad.
Vyacheslav IvanovVyacheslav Viktorovich Ivanov is a military expert and historian.
