@janon the torturous path was due to the difficulty of absorbing the state of the art tech. on the MDL's part. I strongly feel that IN will indeed go for Larger scorpene due to following points:
1. Since MDL has already absorbed the tech. of scorpenes, it would find very easy to build larger subs of these types in quicker time considering the needs of IN.
2. DCNS has now a proven AIP in MESMA.
3. For Brahmos - There was a video Posted by @sancho which demonstrated as to how DCNS has achieved success in land attack & anti-ac capability, launching missiles from torpedo tubes, if not they can even offer a VLS in the subs which will require adding another section for Brahmos Vertical launch.
4. DCNS has a tie-up with Pipavav Shipyard which in turn has tie-up with MDL, this will make the future transfer of tech. much easier than the current case of P-75.
I think @sancho will be the right person to elaborate further.
I was under the impression that two scorpenes were supposed to be delivered directly from france. But no, all of them are being built by MDL. So then it is possible that the delays are only due to MDL's inability to absorb tech fast. I think the navy had asked for two subs to be made in france, to expedite deliveries. Or maybe that was for P-75I.
Now why is the cost of P-75I close to 12 billion dollars? Especially if it is an enlarged scorpene, and we have already paid for most of the tech transfer, why would we pay 12 billion for 6 subs? That makes it 2 billion dollars per sub, in the same ballpark as a Virginia class nuclear sub!
Also, what happened to the AIP system developed by DRDO? Do they plan to fit that on the present scorpenes or the P-75I? Or will they go for MESMA?
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