Scorpene sub delayed by one more year

It is official. Gloomy days aren’t over for the Scorpene submarine project. Plagued by years of delays and subsequent cost overruns, the project being executed by defence shipyard Mazagon Dock in Mumbai has missed the deadline once again, dealing a body blow to the Navy’s desperate effort to pull its impuissant submarine arm out of the trough.

The French-origin submarines, being built under a transfer of technology (ToT) contract, will not be available for induction into the submarine-starved Navy in 2015, as promised by the yard.

The revised target for delivery of the first of the six Scorpenes is September 2016, with the remaining hopefully entering service at the rate of one submarine every 12 months thereon.

Read more