Project 75I: India’s $9 Billion German Submarine Deal and Why It Needs a Strategic Firewall

Why in News?

India is moving towards finalising the long-delayed Project-75I (P-75I) programme for six advanced conventional submarines, to be built in India with German technological assistance from Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and Indian shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL).

Important Point

• The proposed programme is valued at roughly ₹70,000 crore initially, with the broader package estimated at around US$9 billion.
• The project is significant because it is not simply about acquiring six submarines. It is about addressing India's ageing conventional submarine fleet while creating the technological and industrial foundations for future indigenous submarine construction.
• The central strategic question, therefore, is not whether India needs submarines—it clearly does.
• The question is whether India can ensure that a German-designed submarine fleet does not create a new four-decade-long dependency on foreign technology, spares and political decisions in Berlin.

What is Project-75I?

• Project-75I envisages the construction of six modern diesel-electric attack submarines equipped with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP).
• The programme was conceived under India's Strategic Partnership Model, under which an Indian shipbuilder partners with a global Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to manufacture advanced defence platforms domestically while absorbing technology and building an indigenous industrial ecosystem.

The programme is expected to provide capabilities including:

• Air Independent Propulsion
• Advanced sensors and sonar
• Modern combat-management systems
• Torpedoes and anti-ship weapons
• Electronic warfare systems
• Indigenous construction
• Technology transfer
• Training and lifecycle support

The strategic importance of P-75I lies in the combination of fleet modernisation + technology transfer + industrial capacity creation.

Why Does India Urgently Need New Submarines?

India's conventional submarine fleet has been under pressure for years.

The Navy operates a mixed fleet comprising:

• Sindhughosh/Kilo-class submarines of Russian origin
• Shishumar/Type-209 submarines of German origin
• Kalvari/Scorpene-class submarines based on French design

India's Submarine Paradox

• India has acquired the ability to build nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, but remains dependent on foreign partners for modern conventional submarine designs.
• The Arihant-class programme demonstrates India's ability to master highly complex nuclear-submarine technologies. However, India's conventional submarine design ecosystem has not reached the same level of maturity.

The progression India should seek is:

Buyer → Assembler → Manufacturer → Systems Integrator → Designer → Technology Owner

AIP: The Technology That Matters

Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) enables a conventional submarine to remain underwater for substantially longer periods without depending entirely on atmospheric oxygen.

For India's maritime strategy, this translates into:

• Greater stealth
• Longer patrol endurance
• Better survivability
• Enhanced sea-denial capability
• Improved intelligence and surveillance
• Greater anti-surface warfare capability

In an Indian Ocean environment where maritime surveillance is becoming increasingly sophisticated, underwater endurance can be strategically decisive.

What Will P-75I Add to India's Maritime Power?

1. Sea Denial: Submarines can make strategically important maritime zones dangerous for hostile naval forces.

2. Anti-Ship Warfare: They can attack enemy surface combatants and other high-value maritime targets using torpedoes and anti-ship weapons.

3. Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance: Their stealth allows them to monitor naval movements and maritime traffic.

4. Protection of Sea Lines of Communication: India's economic security depends heavily on maritime trade. Submarines can contribute to protecting important sea routes.

5. Strategic Deterrence: Although P-75I submarines are conventional platforms and not SSBNs, their survivability contributes to India's broader maritime deterrence architecture.

6. Potential Land-Attack Capability: Depending on the final weapons configuration, such platforms can potentially contribute to long-range precision strike missions.

Why Germany and TKMS?

• Germany already has a long submarine-building legacy. The Indian Navy's Shishumar-class submarines are based on the German Type-209 design, giving India decades of experience operating German-origin conventional submarines.
• TKMS is one of the world's major conventional submarine manufacturers and has supplied submarines to several countries.

For India, the partnership therefore offers three major advantages:

• First – Proven submarine expertise: Germany has deep experience in conventional submarine design and construction.
• Second – Existing Indian experience: The Navy has historical familiarity with German submarine technology.
• Third – Technology cooperation: P-75I is intended to be built in India rather than simply imported as a finished product.

How Should India Firewall P-75I?

1. Lifetime Logistics Guarantee

India should negotiate legally enforceable arrangements for spare parts and technical support throughout the submarine's service life.

2. Export-Control Protection

The contract should minimise the possibility that future licensing restrictions could affect India's operational readiness.

3. Deep Technology Transfer

Technology transfer must mean more than receiving manuals.

India needs access to manufacturing processes, engineering know-how, testing procedures and maintenance expertise.

4. Indigenous Maintenance

Critical maintenance and refit capabilities should progressively move to Indian facilities.

5. Local Manufacturing of Spares

Indian companies should manufacture an increasing proportion of critical components.

6. Software and Data Security

Mission-critical software, technical data and upgrade capabilities must be protected from future political or commercial disruptions.

7. Indigenous AIP Capability

India should use P-75I to accelerate its own fuel-cell AIP ecosystem rather than creating permanent dependence.

The India-Israel-Germany Opportunity

• P-75I could also generate an interesting India-Israel-Germany maritime technology triangle.
• Israel operates German-built Dolphin-class submarines, while its next-generation submarine programme also involves TKMS.
• Common German-origin submarine technology could potentially create opportunities for:
  • Training cooperation
  • Maintenance
  • Logistics
  • Spare-parts coordination
  • AIP expertise
  • Fuel-cell technology
  • Underwater sensors

India and Israel already enjoy a deep defence partnership.

Combining German submarine technology with Indian industrial capacity and Israeli operational experience could create an important new maritime cooperation architecture.

However, such cooperation should be viewed as a strategic possibility, not an established component of the P-75I contract.

Conclusion

• Project-75I is simultaneously an urgent military requirement, a major industrial opportunity and a strategic dependency risk.
• India needs these submarines because its conventional fleet is ageing and the Indian Ocean is becoming increasingly contested.
• Germany offers India advanced conventional-submarine technology, industrial expertise and an opportunity for deeper defence-industrial cooperation.
• A submarine inducted today could remain in service for decades. The political environment surrounding India and Germany could look completely different by then.

Important Facts at a Glance

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