The Indian Navy is issuing fresh ‘request for information’ (RFI) to five international companies for 150 heavyweight torpedoes for submarines at a cost of $300 million. Sources told FE that the RFIs have been sent to French company Naval Group (formerly known as DCNS), German ThyssenKrupp, Swedish SAAB, Rosoboronexport (Russia) and a Japanese company. “Earlier, the original RFI for the heavy torpedoes was for 98, now the numbers are in bulk. The idea is to buy initial and the rest will be under ‘Make in India’ with an Indian partner,” said the source. These torpedoes are very important for the submarines and when India gets INS Kalvari, the first Scorpene class stealth submarine built under Project 75, later this year, it will be ‘without’ heavyweight torpedoes. This submarine is currently undergoing extensive sea trials.
Work is expected to start on INS Khanderi, the second indigenous Scorpene-class submarine, which was recently launched…