The 'request for proposal' for the indigenous construction of the six submarines will be issued soon, they added.
Building 6 conventional submarines is one of the Indian Navy's most important weapon construction programmes.
There were 35 defects that still remained to be resolved. Of these, 29 could not have been resolved during the monsoon since they required testing in absolutely calm seas. Nor is the Khanderi being commissioned with a full complement of its primary weapon, the torpedo.
Insufficient technology has been transferred during the ongoing Project 75, which involves building 6 Scorpene-class submarines.
The Scorpene submarine does not have enough firepower; it will share 64 obsolescent SUT torpedoes till the Indian Navy is supplied with 100 heavyweight torpedoes -- a process that could take more than two years to complete
Unlike conventional subs that must surface every 48 to 72 hours, these subs can stay submerged for up to 14 days.
The status of the current submarine force level is alarming and we need to address the threat perceptions expeditiously. Critical decisions pertaining to national security cannot be delayed any further due to the rapidly changing maritime threat perceptions and growing strategic importance of the Indian Ocean region, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The defence ministry has already shortlisted two Indian shipyards and five foreign defence majors for the project, being billed as one of biggest "Make in India" ventures.
The defence ministry has lost sight of what it intended to achieve -- which was to nurture private defence firms that would compete on equal terms with the 9 defence PSUs and the 41 Ordnance Factory Board factories.
The biggest procurement green-lighted was the Rs 217 billion purchase of 111 naval utility helicopters.
Singh made the remarks while addressing a "CEOs' Roundtable" at the 14th edition of Aero India at the Yelahanka Air Force station complex on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Admiral Puri says it would be wasteful to buy a foreign helicopter, pay for transfer of technology, and develop manufacturing capability in an Indian private sector strategic partner when all this already exists with HAL.
Will private firms really boost Make in India in the defence sector? Ajai Shukla seeks answers.
Jaishankar said that the resolution on Kashmir introduced by Jayapal in the House is not a fair characterisation of the situation in J-K. And also said that he has no interest in meeting the Congresswoman.
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