Navy dawdles over submarine overhaul

The inordinate delay has prompted the Navy to send INS Sindhuvir (S-57), another Kilo class submarine, to Severdminsk in the North Sea near Murmansk, Russia for a medium refit. The refit could cost about Rs 50 crore. This works out cheaper than an indigenous one, according to an informed estimate.

The maintenance cycles for submarines are sacrosanct. After every three short refits, a boat undergoes a normal refit. After three such normal refits it has to go in for a medium refit.This involves activities in the dry dock where the hull and engines are repaired, sea openings overhauled, hydraulic systems rectified, cables changed, batteries replaced and anti-corrosive paint applied.

The rationale for a refit not adhering to its time frame could well be the distinction between the nature of work undertaken in repair and production organisations. Unlike production organisations where planning is possible, work in a repair establishment (like a naval dockyard) is open-ended as new defects are discovered during the dismantling process, creating new demands for spares and consequently leading to delays.

The Director General Naval Projects, an agency which specialises in civil construction works, has not been able to adhere to the specified time frames. This has resulted in the absence of infrastructure like buildings for housing jigs, fixtures and test benches to carry out Kilo class submarine refits as per plan. This in turn distorts the maintenance schedules for other submarines. While two Kilo class subs are under medium refit, a couple of others would be ready for short refits. This ties up four to five submarines in dry docks, leaving only a few submarines for seaworthy duties.

That the Navy, despite being endowed with two dockyards and two ship-repair yards which employ skilled technical manpower, has to send a submarine to Russia for a medium refit underlines a serious problem with Kilo class submarines. The engineering infrastructure here is only capable of handling short and normal refits lasting for three months and one year respectively.

In contrast, the Navy does not face the same problem with the medium refits for German HDW submarines as the dockyard’s civilian technical personnel have been trained intensively by the manufacturer. This was also because the HDW was earlier slated to be manufactured in the country.

The documentation which provides detailed instructions on assembling and removing on-board systems enables easy understanding to execute faster work. As a result HDW subs are put out more often to sea than the Kilo class.