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Pakistan may surpass Indian submarines

Pakistan is likely to steal a march over India in long-range patrol submarines when it acquires the French Agosta class boat equipped with the state-of-the- art air-independent propulsion with electrochemical generators, reports Asia Defence News International.

India too has shown interest in air-independent propulsion technology produced by the Russian federation for its Amur class submarine even as it is continuing work on its advanced technology vessel nuclear propulsion project.

Pakistan has signed a contract with France for three Agosta class submarines one of which will have a Mesma steam-and-gas AIP system.

Air-independent propulsion fuel cells operate without the induction of atmospheric air supply as required for diesel-electric submarines which surface every 24 hours to recharge the batteries. The unit is small in size, produces little noise and emits very little heat.

The Russian federation has offered the technology to India because joint development will reduce costs and that is also the methodology applied by Germany, Sweden and France which have tied up with Italy, Japan, Spain, respectively, to ensure that their future submarines fleets will be both cost-effective and give better value for money in terms of range and submerged endurance.

Also, air-independent propulsion technology does not bear the burden of international controls and embargoes as in the case of nuclear propulsion being essentially within the ''conventional'' technology regime.

The first and second generation AIP systems increase submerged endurance by as much as 15 days to about one-and-half months and the third generation fuel cells raise this limit to up to three months at a stretch thereby coming close to the rest and recreation break required to be given to the crew of nuclear-powered submarines the submerged endurance of which is unlimited.

The fuel cell creates energy through direct conversion of chemical reaction between hydrogen and an oxidiser into electricity thereby bypassing the usual internal combustion cycle as in diesel generation.

The Russians have developed technology to entrap hydrogen (with is volatile) in a metallic sodium-boron compound and cryogenic liquid oxygen as catalyst.

The control and five/explosion protection system has been developed to automatically check the power plant's technological parameters as well as the fuel cell's atmospheric parameters and can cut off the supply of reagent (oxygen) in an emergency. The reaction byproduct is water.

The Russians have developed a second generation system which is land-based and can be used as a refuelling station or to service submarines in harbour.

The advantage for India is that the AIP module can be plugged into its kilo class submarines during update and modernisation.

UNI

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