Indian Patrakar "Do Not Do Dalali of Foreign Maal For Once Atleast" Challenge Level : Impossible
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But all the six boats entered service without their primary weapon system-heavy weight torpedoes (HWTs), after plans to import 98 of these from Italy’s Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquet (WASS) for Rs 1,800 crore was scrapped in 2017.
But in December, seven years after the WASS tender was terminated, the MoD signed a Rs 877-crore contract with Naval Group, to arm all six Scorpene SSK’s with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)-designed ‘Varunastra’ Electronic HWTs.
However, the MoD did not disclose the price of the torpedoes, manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited, in its announcement via the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on December 30, 2024. Industry estimates suggest that each Varunastra torpedo costs between Rs 10-12 crore. Consequently, the total cost for the 98 torpedoes originally ordered by the Indian Navy would be an extra Rs 980-1,176 crore.
Naval Group’s collaboration was essential in this endeavour to assist the Indian Navy and DRDO technicians in customising the submarines’ 533 mm torpedo tubes to Varunastra’s guidance and fire control system and aligning it with the submarines’ SUBTICS combat management system. Fitting the boats with Varunastra that has a range of 40 km and speed of up to 40 knots (74 kmph) onto the submarines necessitates time-consuming hardware adaptations, software integration and extended testing, industry sources said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------