The Indian Ministry of Defence has released a Request For Information (RFI) in order to procure 12 Mine Countermeasure (MCM) vessels for the Indian Navy from Indian shipyards. The order is planned to be split between two shipyards in the ratio of 8:4.
Standoff MCM capability using unmanned assets is the critical design driver sought for by the Navy. The new MCM vessel class will act as a mothership for the unmanned MCM assets, remaining outside the minefield and using an onboard MCM command and control system to administer operations.
The MCM vessels should be about 87 meters long, 15 meters wide and have a draught of 4.1 meters. The 2,800 ton ships should have a service life of 30 years. CODOE propulsion configuration is required with two diesel engines and two electric motors, enabling the ship to sail at speeds of over 20 knots. The ships’ crew complement should not be more than 75 sailors.
The MCM vessel would have the capability to launch, recover and operate two Compact Autonomous Surface Craft All Domain Effects (CASCADE) Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV), four Heavy Weight Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HWAUV) and one ship launched Multi Utility Long Endurance (MULE) multicopter or Naval Shipborne Unmanned Aerial System (NSUAS). At least 20 Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) will be carried by the ship.
The CASCADE ASVs would be about 12 meters long while the 1.5 ton HWAUVs will be 5 meters long with a diameter of 21 inches. The ROVs would be 2 meters long with a diameter of 9 inches and weight of 50kg. The CASCADE ASV will transport HWAUVs and ROVs from the mothership to identify, classify and neutralise the mines. The ASV will be equipped with towed acoustic and influence sweep equipment. These will coordinate with HWAUVs using side-scan and synthetic aperture sonar to detect potential mines. Identification, classification and neutralisation of mines will be conducted by ROVs transported by CASCADE into the minefield.
The MULE multicopter or NSUAS will provide comprehensive situational awareness in the minefield and acts as relay between AUVs and mothership. The vessels would feature integrated composite masts. Primary underwater sensors onboard the MCM vessels would include hull mounted mine hunting sonar and a forward looking mine & obstacle detection sonar.
Armament includes a 76mm main gun, two 12.7mm machine guns, a VSHORADS surface to air missile system and two Directed Energy Weapons or 30 mm mountings controlled by EOIRST. The ships would have the capability to carry containerized missile and loitering munitions (medium range and short range) in 40 foot containers weighing up to 30 tons.
The new RFI comes after repeated failed attempts to procure 12 MCM vessels as required by the Indian Navy. Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) had been the frontrunner for the requirement, with its prior experience building mine warfare ships. GSL was nominated by the Indian MoD to absorb technology from a foreign partner and build 12 vessels with advanced composite hulls. In 2021, the Indian Navy tried to lease three to four MCM vessels in order to plug the urgent gap in capability.
Meanwhile, the Navy has ordered two Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPV) from Larsen & Toubro which can conduct MCM duties as well. Minesweeping clips from Thales are also being used by the Indian Navy as an interim solution.
The development of CASCADE ASVs has been initiated with information so far indicating that the Indian Navy desires it to be used primarily for anti-submarine warfare. A different class of ASVs for MCM is being developed along with multiple UUVs and High Endurance AUVs (HEAUV) with MCM modules.
MCM Mothership concept
With the new RFI, the Indian Navy looks to be shedding its insistence on traditional composite hulls and focusing on futuristic large MCM mothership concepts. The shift towards unmanned MCM comes after the Indian Navy released an Integrated Unmanned Roadmap in 2022, in order to notify the industry of its requirements and acquire such assets.
The requirements floated by India are quite similar to new generation MCM vessels such as Naval Group’s MCM motherships for the Belgian Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy. While these ships would be delivered from 2024, the anticipated delivery timeline for the Indian vessels is between 2030 to 2037. With the requirement for a composite hull dropped, it is likely to entice more Indian shipyards to participate.
