In the recent past, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, gave an elaborate overview on the current status of various indigenous warship building projects. Main features of his statement were that each of the programmes has severely suffered due to enormous cost and time overruns. All of the indigenous warship building projects are with three leading defence shipyards of the country and in percentage terms, the cost escalations alone have ranged between 157 per cent and 260 per cent. He informed the Lok Sabha that ‘acceptance of necessity’ for acquisition of six next generation stealth submarines under Project-75(I) has been accorded by the Defence Acquisitions Council. The proposal is being progressed. Cost details would be available on finalisation of contracts. However, it will take at least two to three years for the contract to be finalised and another seven years before the first boat is rolled out. Quite clearly, the time estimate for the fruition of the project would be injurious to the rapidly depleting force levels of submarine combat arm.

While he did not quantify the extant of time overruns of the projects, it is a well known fact that the existing system of assigning the indigenous warship projects by nomination to the three defence shipyards of the country has resulted in order books of each of the shipyards choked beyond their existing capacity for the next 15-20 years. The other prominent reasons ascribed were non-availability of critical construction materials on time, delays in acquisition of weapon equipment and systems from abroad, delays in finalisation of propulsion system and equipment, as also delays in finalisation of indigenous substitutes and its availability.

While each of the defence shipyards were compelled to initiate modernisation plans to induct newer shipbuilding technologies, facilities, practices, processes, capacity upgrades, and infrastructure augmentation to match up the order book position; execution of plans itself have caused protracted delays, due to lethargic and tedious decision-making, procurement and acquisition processes, etc. The prime objectives of planned modernisation programmes of defence shipyards are aimed at achieving the qualitative and quantitative augmentation of building and delivering quality warships at competitive cost with shorter construction periods, increased capacity, product mix and shortened delivery schedules. Regrettably, these objectives have fallen way short of the stated aspirations of improving productivity levels of defence shipyards.

Exhorting the need for imbibing newer concepts in naval ship design and construction, Commander Douglas C. Deans, a former naval architect of high repute recommends Modules and the Blocks that follow are built to very tight and exacting tolerances. They are continuously monitored during construction and assembled to form the Platform at exact positions using laser trackers., “The shipbuilding industry and the associated research and development (R&D) organisations are in need of a major renaissance and reformation led by young dynamic and innovative professionals who can think boldly and act beyond the conventional box. Like Lego sets, the next generation of ships designs can be reconfigured for new missions within weeks and even assembled if the modules are built and available at selected locations.”

Global Success Stories

Fully conscious of prevailing intense competition, unpredictable economic conditions and its impact on industrial growth, manifesting into lurking danger of mere survival; the naval shipbuilding industry was compelled to re-strategise the long-term goals and perspectives elsewhere in the world. Resultantly, the industry has proactively embarked upon the modernisation programmes, nearly three decades ago. Newer concepts in warship designs introduced weapon and electronics system modularity with interface standards to encompass modular ship design and construction, signature reduction and unmatched enhanced survivability. The modularity concept was developed to enable warships to tailor payloads according to operational needs, resulting in qualitative and quantitative jump in production levels, to an amazing 1.5 frigates per year.

Foran-CAD/CAM/CAE design engineering and production system for shipbuilding was devised and developed for the design, engineering and production of all types of ships and other floating units, which comprises the disciplines of forms definition, naval architecture, steel structure, machinery and outfitting, electrical, accommodation, etc, from conceptual design to detailed engineering. FORAN has truly emerged as an effective tool to design and build ships faster, better and cheaper. The system is applicable to all types of ships, regardless of their size, and can be fully customised to meet specific requirements of users. It offers maximum adaptability, providing shipyards of any size and organisation with customised solutions for the design and production of all types of ships. In addition, its modular structure permits a flexible and progressive implementation. As a consequence, the open database structure greatly facilitates the transfer of information between technical and corporate information systems, ensuring highest connectivity of the system with the shop floors of the shipyard.

Let us evaluate the success stories of some of the leading and globally renowned naval shipyards who demonstrated dynamism in their futuristic corporate policies and planning, by proactively imbibing into their R&D and construction philosophies and IT tools. The common thread of these success stories was bold entrepreneurial initiatives launched efficiently, with rare foresight to counter glorious uncertainties of future environment. Technology driven tools and practices were grasped with vision to facilitate commensurate infrastructure and suitable empowerment of human resources to brace with the emerging challenges in the industry.

Navantia, the Spanish shipbuilder, emerged as a world reference in the design, construction and integration of warships, including new generation submarines. It is also engaged in the design and manufacture of integrated platform management systems, fire control systems, command and control systems, propulsion plants and the life cycle support for naval ships. It is one of the very few shipyards which have a complete capacity in the field of design, development, production, integration and integrated logistic platform support, propulsion and naval combat systems as well as the ability to deliver fully-operational ships. The plan of Navantia is to turn the Cartagena shipyard into a world reference point in the design and construction of air independent propulsion (AIP) submarines. The system of integrated modular construction is used in building these submarines, with a difference with respect to the building of surface ships of the pressure resistant hull being the first to be built prior to subsequent installation in the interior sections of the prefabricated blocks with the fitting out and engines.

The DCNS Group is a front-ranking European player in the world market for naval defence systems. To meet customer demands for more comprehensive and integrated solutions, DCNS acts as prime contractor for naval shipbuilding and support by combining its own development, marketing and production capabilities with those of selected partners.

Meko family of ships includes frigates, corvettes and ocean-going patrol boats. It is a concept in modern naval shipbuilding based on modularity of weapons, electronics, ancillary machinery and other equipment, all designed to reduce costs in running, maintenance and initial cost of acquisition. The Meko class of ships is designed to ensure optimum availability of force levels while defective units are down at various stages of refit and repairs.

Another example of this concept is La Fayette and Mistral class which are light multi-mission frigates built by DCN. The ships were built with a modular inner structure from prefabricated modules which were completed at the workshops and then delivered to the shipyard for final assembly. This technique reduces the construction time to less than two years.

BVT Surface Fleet, the joint venture between BAE Systems and VT Group, use pre-fabricated modular cabins which reduce onboard outfitting time and consequently shorten the shipbuilding cycle. In addition, modular construction improves shipbuilding efficiency as it transfers field assembly work to a shop environment.

The Australian Government awarded a contract to Tenix Defence (now BAE Systems) for the construction of two large amphibious landing ships. Tenix has entered into a partnership agreement to build the ships as per Navantia design. As per agreement, around 25 per cent of the value of the project involving construction of the superstructures for the ships would be undertaken in Williamstown, Victoria. On completion of the hulls for amphibious ships at the Navantia Shipyard, these will be transported to Australia. The superstructures will then be constructed, fitted out and integrated with the hulls at BAE Systems’ Williamstown dockyard. The combat system is to be provided by Saab Systems Australia, which will also integrate the combat management system and the communications system will be supplied by L-3 Communications. This model is a success story of multinational collaboration in warship building with seamless oceanic boundaries.