Deals for three subs, 26 Rafale aircraft likely next month, says Navy Chief

Two agreements will be signed with France for 26 new Rafale-M fighter jets and three new Scorpene-class submarines to upgrade its fighting capability by January 2025, navy head Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said on Monday, 62 warships and a diesel-electric submarine were under construction at various Indian shipyards and two nuclear-powered submarines had been approved by the government.

In his routine media press briefing before Navy Day, he added that the Indian Navy was also on the lookout for additional regional powers in the Indo-Pacific Region such as Chinese naval forces and "we know who is doing what and where" and that some Pakistani warships were being constructed with Chinese assistance.

Navy Day in India is 4 December, the anniversary of Operation Trident – the navy’s bombardment of Karachi harbor during the 1971 war with Pakistan. This year, Navy Day will be held in Puri, Odisha, where President Droupadi Murmu is the Chief Guest.

India is purchasing fighters for India’s indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. The contract to purchase the twin-engine, deck fighters designed for longer-range sea battles amounts to around 50,000 crore. The Rafale-M will be imported as a stopgap solution to the navy’s needs until India can manufacture its own twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF).

The navy will soon launch Vagsheer, the sixth and last Kalvari-class (Scorpene) diesel-electric attack submarine under a 23,562-crore project named Project-75 to boost its submarine capability.

"We have received approval from the government to build two nuclear powered submarines to be designed and constructed locally, reiterating our confidence in our own capability, and also in the nation’s overall defence ecosystem. That will in large part propel many side industries," Tripathi added.

Last week, India tested the 3,500 km-range K-4 nuclear-armed missile from INS Arighaat. "The relevant agencies are examining what path the missile took and "one day we’ll have the results," he said.