Indian Navy Multi-Role Support Vessel programme

India's Ministry of Defence had finalised a project for the procurement of four Landing Helicopter Docks (also referred to as "Multi-Role Support Vessel") in order to upgrade the Indian Navy's disaster response, amphibious warfare and island protection capabilities.[6] The project was worth ₹16,000 crore (US$2.6 billion), and tenders were issued in December 2013 to three domestic shipyards.[7][8]

Multi-Role Support Vessel
 Sponsor 
Indian NavyThe Indian Navy has stated a need for 4 MRSVs.[1]
 Contenders[2][3][4] 
DCNS/ARMARIS(21,300 tons) Mistral-class LHD
Fincantieri(20,000 tons) Multi-functional ship [LHD][5]
Navantia(27,079 tons) Juan Carlos I LHD
Hanjin Heavy Industries(14,500-18,800 tons) Dokdo class
 Speculated Contenders[4] 
BAE Systems(21,578 tons) Ocean-class LHD
Raytheon(25,000 tons) San Antonio-class LPD
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems(15,000 tons) MHD-150
Schelde Naval Shipbuilding(16,160 tons) Enforcer LPD
 Total Project Cost[3] 
₹16,000 crore (US$2.2 billion)
as of 2011

History

As a precautionary measure against People's Republic of China's naval presence in the Indian Ocean, acquiring amphibious warfare ships and aircraft carriers has become a top priority for Indian Navy. Consequently, Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is being developed into a major Amphibious Warfare Hub for Indian Navy and it is considered crucial to counter China's strategic moves in the Indian Ocean as well as ensure security of these sea lanes.

In 2011, it was reported that India is looking for up to four LHD type aviation and amphibious ships, with designs to come from foreign firms. In November 2013, the Defence Ministry has issued a tender for building warships which can carry helicopters. The tender was issued as part of efforts by the government to build the capabilities of the indigenous industry.

Criteria for selection

Although moderately flexible, the basic criteria were:[2][3][9][7]

  1. Size: Should be no more than 215 metres long; and draught at full load must not exceed 8 metres.
  2. Aviation facilities: Aviation deck to carry 10 heavy helicopters, up to 35 tons.
  3. Troop space: Accommodate 1,430 personnel, including 60 officers, 470 sailors and 900 troops.
  4. Load carrying capability: Combination of landing craft, including landing craft mechanised to ferry tanks; landing craft, vehicle, personnel to transport troops; and the fast-moving landing craft air cushion vessels. Should carry six main battle tanks, 20 infantry combat vehicles and 40 heavy trucks.
  5. On-board weapons: Point-defence missile system, close-in weapon system, an anti-torpedo decoy system, a chaff system, and heavy and light machine guns.
  6. Range and endurance: Endurance of 45 days, with a maximum sustained speed of not less than 20 knots.
  7. Propulsion: Powered by electric propulsion systems.
  8. Special Features: Specialised areas from hospital facilities to naval command centre.
  9. Role: Conducting maritime surveillance, special operations, search and rescue, medical support and humanitarian aid.

Contenders
 Name  Displacement (Tons)  Aircraft carried  Extended Deck  Range(km)  Troops 
Mistral21,30016 heavy or 35 light helicoptersYes19,800900 marines
Multi-functional Ship20,000up to 6 helicopters EH-101/Merlin typeYes13,000950 Marines
Juan Carlos I27,079Up to 30 aircraft (including AV-8B Harrier II, F-35 (planned), CH-47, Sea King, NH-90)Yes (with Ski jump)17,000913 marines

Mistral LHD (DCNS, France)
Dixmude - A Mistral-class amphibious assault ship and potential MRSV candidate for the Indian Navy

DCNS/Armaris's contender is a modified version of the Mistral-class ship.[2][10] The ships in this class are generally able to carry around 900 armed troops and 16 heavy or 35 light helicopters. France's DCNS is currently India's shipbuilding partner for its new Scorpène-class diesel electric fast attack submarines. The Mistral design meets every criterion for the MRSV project and Egypt and France operate these ships.[2][9]

Multi-functional ship LHD (Fincantieri, Italy)
A model of Fincantieri's 20,000 t multi-functional ship.

The Indian Navy recently received the first Deepak-class fleet tanker constructed by Italy's Fincantieri which is currently working with India to build INS Vikrant.[11] Although Fincantieri has a history of naval industrial relations with India, it is yet to fully develop a ship that fits the criteria for Multi-Role Support Vessel. However, according to their website, Fincantieri is fully capable of manufacturing a vessel which they list as a 20,000 tonne "multi-functional ship". This ship is purported to be suitable for the "MRSV" title.[5]

Juan Carlos I class (Navantia, Spain)
Navantia's Juan Carlos I-class strategic projection vessel

Navantia built the LHD Juan Carlos I for the Spanish Navy, and is building two similar ships for the Royal Australian Navy (plus one more built in Turkey with some local modifications). It is also a strong contender for the title of "Multi-Role Support Vessel" as it meets each criterion perfectly. With its ski jump for STOVL operations, it is conceptually similar to a Wasp-class LHD and can be used to operate F-35B in case Indian Navy wants. Nonetheless, if India would be willing to compromise with a smaller vessel or LPD, then this would expand Navantia's scope by including the Galicia-class LPD, which was co-developed with Royal Schelde.

Progress

The Indian Navy issued a ₹16,000 crore (160 Billion INR - US$2.6 billion) domestic tender to three domestic shipyards - Larsen & Toubro (L&T) which has tied up with Navantia of Spain, Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering which has partnered with France's DCNS, and ABG Shipyard (Later disqualified due to poor financial health)[12] which has partnered with United States' Alion. After the winning design is selected, the private shipyard will construct two LPDs and the remaining two will be constructed by state-owned Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL). Later it was decided to give the entire LPD contract to private players upon acceptance of their revised bids.[3][7][8] After years of delay, on 21 May 2017 Ministry Defense gave "In-principle approval" for the project.[12]

In November 2019 Business Insider reported that the Navy is approaching Ministry of Defence to scrap this tender and issue a fresh one in the near future. The main reasons behind this was reported to be years of delays and technological advancements made in amphibious assault ships in the years since the tender was issued in 2006.[13]

In October 2020 Indian navy scrapped the multibillion-dollar tender over the new qualitative requirements. After 7 years of launching acquisition procedure the navy withdrew from request for proposals as the project was initiated back in year 2006 and a lot of technological improvements have been occurred and the navy requires new specifications in the landing platform docks.[14]

See also

References
  1. Multi-Role Support Ship (MRSS)
  2. "India Looking for Amphibious Ships". Defense Industry Daily. 27 November 2011.
  3. "Amphibious vessels to strengthen Navy". The Times of India. 10 September 2011.
  4. "Multi-Role Support Ship (MRSS)". Global Security. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  5. "Naval Vessel: Multifunctional Ship". Fincantieri. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  6. Defence News Admin (26 November 2011). "India To Buy Four Large Amphibious Ships, Air Tankers". Defence News. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  7. the 2013 tender, two LPDs were to be built by domestic private sector and remaining by a state-owned company. Now it has been decided to give the entire LPD contract to private players upon acceptance of their revised bids./article/20131212/DEFREG03/312120012/India-Construct-4-LPDs "India To Construct 4 LPDs" Check |url= value (help). Defense News. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  8. "LPDs Lead India's Push To Boost Sealift, Amphibious Capabilities". Defense News. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  9. "Indian Navy launches Request For Proposal for 4 amphibious vessels (LHD type)". Naval Industry News. 23 November 2011.
  10. "DCNS offers modified Mistral Helicopter Carrier to India". IBC Worldnews. IBC Worldnews. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  11. "Indian Aircraft carrier". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  12. PTI (21 May 2017). "Government gives green signal to build worth over Rs 20,000 crore". The Economic Times. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  13. "Navy mulls scrapping Rs 20k-cr tender for building four amphibious warships". Business Standard. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  14. "Indian Navy scraps tender to procure 4 Landing Platform Docks at Rs 20k cr". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
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