Last updated: June 25, 2007
Production of next-gen submarine begins http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070016529&ch=6/24/2007%201:20:00%20PM
Randeep Singh Nandal
Sunday, June 24, 2007 (Mumbai)
The production of the first of the six Scorpene Submarines has started in the Mazgon Dock in Mumbai.These Submarines, brought from France in a $4 billion deal, are desperately needed by the Indian Navy.''We are making these submarines. It is very tough, the standards are high and complex. It will take us about six years to make the first one,'' said Vice Adm Krishnan, CMD, Mazgon Dock.
The quality of the hull has to be high. The steel hull has to withstand enormous pressure under the water.A team of French technicians from DCN is also on the job, which scrutinises every weld and process.However, the actual work is done by men like Kiran Purohit, who as a youngman, was among those who manufactured India's first submarine, the German HDW, in the late eighties.But for the past 15 years there were just no Submarines to make.
''It is tough work but it is very prestigious and we are slowly regaining our touch. The last HDW sub we made was in 1994. Then we made boats and missiles,'' said Kiran Purohit, Master Welder.After the HDW contract was embroiled in a controversy, the manufacturing line was shut for ten long years.The Navy was scared that the skill and experience would be lost. So the Scorpene contact has come in the nick of time.
''There is a naval design team at work and hopefully sometime in the future we will hopefully make our own submarine,'' said Vice Adm S K K Krishnan(Retd), CMD, Mazgon Dock.The Scorpenes are vital for the Indian Navy, which will get six in the next ten years. But the real reason why the naval establishment is happy is the fact that the skill and know-how gained will help realise their dream - a Submarine designed and made in India.
Copyright 2007