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Indian Navy amphibious vessel acquisition project

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Class overview
Operators Indian Navy
Built2020s (Planned)
Planned4
General characteristics [1]
TypeLanding platform dock with large deck
Displacement30,000-40,000 tonnes
Length200 m (660 ft)
Draft8 m (26 ft) (Full load)
PropulsionIntegrated full electric or hybrid propulsion systems
Speed14–16 kn (26–30 km/h; 16–18 mph) economical speed
Range10,000 NM (19,000 km; 12,000 mi)
Boats & landing
craft carried
Complement540 sailors and 900 troops
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 1 × E/F Band combined air and surface surveillance radar
  • 1 × 3D C/D Band air surveillance radar
  • 1 × Surface surveillance radar
  • 2 × ‘I’ Band radars
  • 1 × E/F COTS radar
  • 1 × EO/IRST
Armament
Aircraft carried
  • 2 × Heavy-lift helicopters
  • 12 × Special-op helicopters
  • 2 x Naval Ship-borne UAV systems (NSUAVS)
Aviation facilities
  • Flight-deck facilitating simultaneous operations of at least 4 helicopters
  • Hangar accommodating 12 special-op helicopters and two NSUAS
  • 2 x Aircraft lifts; each of 24 tonnes SWL
Multi-Role Support Vessel
 Sponsor 
India Indian NavyThe Indian Navy has stated a need for 4 MRSVs.[2]
 Contenders[3][4][5] 
France DCNS/ARMARIS(21,300 tons) Mistral-class LHD
Italy Fincantieri(20,000 tons) Multi-functional ship [LHD][6]
Spain Navantia(27,079 tons) Juan Carlos I LHD
South Korea Hanjin Heavy Industries(14,500-18,800 tons) Dokdo class
 Speculated Contenders[5] 
United Kingdom BAE Systems(21,578 tons) Ocean-class LHD
United States Raytheon(25,000 tons) San Antonio-class LPD
Germany ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems(15,000 tons) MHD-150
Netherlands Schelde Naval Shipbuilding(16,160 tons) Enforcer LPD
 Total Project Cost[4] 
₹16,000 crore (US$1.9 billion)
as of 2011

Indian Navy has planned 4 LPDs/LHDs to be built in 2020s for amphibious warfare, island protection and disaster relief roles. Each ship is expected to displace 30 to 40 thousand tonnes and able to carry 12 special operations and 2 heavy-lift helicopters and armed with CIWS and missiles. It is also expected to carry Directed energy weapons once developed and operationalised by India. Ships are to be manufactured by an Indian shipyard but based on design from a foreign design.

Navy envisaged customised amphibious warfare ships for specific roles and concept was dubbed as "Multi Role Support Vessel" (MRSV). Ministry of Defence had finalised a project for the procurement of four Landing Helicopter Docks.[7] The project was worth ₹16,000 crore (US$2.6 billion), and tenders were issued in December 2013 to three domestic shipyards.[8][9] The number however later was revised to two due to budget constraints.[10] As tender couldn't reach conclusion even till 2020 causing very long delays, it was scrapped and replaced by a new RFI for 4 LPDs with new requirements.[11]

History

As a precautionary measure against People's Republic of China's naval presence in the Indian Ocean, acquiring amphibious warfare ships and aircraft carriers has become a top priority for Indian Navy. Consequently, Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is being developed into a major Amphibious Warfare Hub for Indian Navy and it is considered crucial to counter China's strategic moves in the Indian Ocean as well as ensure security of these sea lanes.

In 2011, it was reported that India is looking for up to four LHD type aviation and amphibious ships, with designs to come from foreign firms. In November 2013, the Defence Ministry has issued a tender for building warships which can carry helicopters. The tender was issued as part of efforts by the government to build the capabilities of the indigenous industry.

Criteria for selection

Although moderately flexible, the basic criteria were:[3][4][12][8]

  1. Size: Should be no more than 215 metres long; and draught at full load must not exceed 8 metres.
  2. Aviation facilities: Aviation deck to carry 10 heavy helicopters, up to 35 tons.
  3. Troop space: Accommodate 1,430 personnel, including 60 officers, 470 sailors and 900 troops.
  4. Load carrying capability: Combination of landing craft, including landing craft mechanised to ferry tanks; landing craft, vehicle, personnel to transport troops; and the fast-moving landing craft air cushion vessels. Should carry six main battle tanks, 20 infantry combat vehicles and 40 heavy trucks.
  5. On-board weapons: Point-defence missile system, close-in weapon system, an anti-torpedo decoy system, a chaff system, and heavy and light machine guns.
  6. Range and endurance: Endurance of 45 days, with a maximum sustained speed of not less than 20 knots.
  7. Propulsion: Powered by electric propulsion systems.
  8. Special Features: Specialised areas from hospital facilities to naval command centre.
  9. Role: Conducting maritime surveillance, special operations, search and rescue, medical support and humanitarian aid.

Contenders

 Name   Displacement (Tons)   Aircraft carried   Extended Deck   Range(km)   Troops 
France Mistral 21,300 16 heavy or 35 light helicopters Yes 19,800 900 marines
Italy Multi-functional Ship 20,000 up to 6 helicopters EH-101/Merlin type Yes 13,000 950 Marines
Spain Juan Carlos I 27,079 Up to 30 aircraft (including AV-8B Harrier II, F-35 (planned), CH-47, Sea King, NH-90) Yes (with Ski jump) 17,000 913 marines

Mistral LHD (DCNS, France)

Dixmude - A Mistral-class amphibious assault ship and potential MRSV candidate for the Indian Navy

DCNS/Armaris's contender is a modified version of the Mistral-class ship.[3][13] The ships in this class are generally able to carry around 900 armed troops and 16 heavy or 35 light helicopters. France's DCNS is currently India's shipbuilding partner for its new Scorpène-class diesel electric fast attack submarines. The Mistral design meets every criterion for the MRSV project and Egypt and France operate these ships.[3][12]

Multi-functional ship LHD (Fincantieri, Italy)

A model of Fincantieri's 20,000 t multi-functional ship.

The Indian Navy recently received the first Deepak-class fleet tanker constructed by Italy's Fincantieri which is currently working with India to build INS Vikrant.[14] Although Fincantieri has a history of naval industrial relations with India, it is yet to fully develop a ship that fits the criteria for Multi-Role Support Vessel. However, according to their website, Fincantieri is fully capable of manufacturing a vessel which they list as a 20,000 tonne "multi-functional ship". This ship is purported to be suitable for the "MRSV" title.[6]

Juan Carlos I class (Navantia, Spain)

Navantia's Juan Carlos I-class strategic projection vessel

Navantia built the LHD Juan Carlos I for the Spanish Navy, and is building two similar ships for the Royal Australian Navy (plus one more built in Turkey with some local modifications). It is also a strong contender for the title of "Multi-Role Support Vessel" as it meets each criterion perfectly. With its ski jump for STOVL operations, it is conceptually similar to a Wasp-class LHD and can be used to operate F-35B in case Indian Navy wants. Nonetheless, if India would be willing to compromise with a smaller vessel or LPD, then this would expand Navantia's scope by including the Galicia-class LPD, which was co-developed with Royal Schelde.

Progress

The Indian Navy issued a ₹16,000 crore (160 Billion INR - US$2.6 billion) domestic tender to three domestic shipyards - Larsen & Toubro (L&T) which has tied up with Navantia of Spain, Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering which has partnered with France's DCNS, and ABG Shipyard (Later disqualified due to poor financial health)[15] which has partnered with United States' Alion. After the winning design is selected, the private shipyard will construct two LPDs and the remaining two will be constructed by state-owned Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL). Later it was decided to give the entire LPD contract to private players upon acceptance of their revised bids.[4][8][9] After years of delay, on 21 May 2017 Ministry Defense gave "In-principle approval" for the project.[15]

In November 2019 Business Insider reported that the Navy is approaching Ministry of Defence to scrap this tender and issue a fresh one in the near future. The main reasons behind this was reported to be years of delays and technological advancements made in amphibious assault ships in the years since the tender was issued in 2006.[16]

In October 2020 Indian navy scrapped the multibillion-dollar tender over the new qualitative requirements. After 7 years of launching acquisition procedure the navy withdrew from request for proposals as the project was initiated back in year 2006 and a lot of technological improvements have been occurred and the navy requires new specifications in the landing platform docks.[17]

In late August 2021, a new RFI was declared for the construction of 4 new LPDs/Landing Platform Dock from Indian shipyards, the specifications of which indicates those 4 ships would rather perform like bigger and more advanced LHDs/Landing Helicopter Dock.

See also

References

  1. ^ "REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR PROCUREMENT OF LANDING PLATFORM DOCKs (LPDs)" (Document). Government of India. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |format= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |work= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Multi-Role Support Ship (MRSS)
  3. ^ a b c d "India Looking for Amphibious Ships". Defense Industry Daily. 27 November 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d "Amphibious vessels to strengthen Navy". The Times of India. 10 September 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Multi-Role Support Ship (MRSS)". Global Security. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Naval Vessel: Multifunctional Ship". Fincantieri. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  7. ^ Defence News Admin (26 November 2011). "India To Buy Four Large Amphibious Ships, Air Tankers". Defence News. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  8. ^ a b c the 2013 tender, two LPDs were to be built by domestic private sector and remaining by a state-owned company. Now it has been decided to give the entire LPD contract to private players upon acceptance of their revised bids./article/20131212/DEFREG03/312120012/India-Construct-4-LPDs "India To Construct 4 LPDs". Defense News. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  9. ^ a b "LPDs Lead India's Push To Boost Sealift, Amphibious Capabilities". Defense News. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  10. ^ Dutta, Amrita Nayak (18 November 2020). "Hit by budget crunch, Indian Navy now plans to buy 2 Landing Platform Docks instead of 4". The Print. New Delhi. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  11. ^ Bhalla, Abhishek (26 August 2021). "Indian Navy's procurement of amphibious ships revived after hitting dead end last year". India Today. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Indian Navy launches Request For Proposal for 4 amphibious vessels (LHD type)". Naval Industry News. 23 November 2011.
  13. ^ "DCNS offers modified Mistral Helicopter Carrier to India". IBC Worldnews. IBC Worldnews. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  14. ^ "Indian Aircraft carrier". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  15. ^ a b PTI (21 May 2017). "Government gives green signal to build worth over Rs 20,000 crore". The Economic Times. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Navy mulls scrapping Rs 20k-cr tender for building four amphibious warships". Business Standard. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Indian Navy scraps tender to procure 4 Landing Platform Docks at Rs 20k cr". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
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