JFD, the submarine rescue and escape training subsidiary of UK-based maritime engineering and energy company James Fisher and Sons plc, announced on 14 November that it had signed a new contract that aims to boost the Indian Navy’s underwater capabilities.
The new contract represents a “significant” expansion of its ongoing partnership with the Indian Navy, which can be traced back to as far as 2018 with the award of a 25-year all-inclusive maintenance support service agreement.
“Through our long-term Submarine Rescue System contract, we have built a strong foundation with the Indian Navy enabling us to understand their challenges and anticipate and respond to their evolving needs,” said JFD Managing Director Rob Hales.
“We are honoured to further enhance this partnership and support the [Indian] Navy with advanced underwater solutions and expertise to support their mission success now and into the future,” added Hales.
The company has previously delivered two complete ‘flyaway’ submarine rescue systems to the Indian Navy. Each system comprises its free-swimming DSAR-650L submarine rescue vehicle (SRV), launch and recovery system (LARS), a Transfer Under Pressure system, an SMD Atom intervention remotely operated vehicle (ROV), and an EdgeTech 4200 series towed side scan sonar, as well as associated logistics and support equipment.
JFD describes the Indian Navy’s submarine rescue systems as ‘third generation’ which represents an improvement in Time to First Rescue (TTFR) performance while ensuring a robust and reliable design at the same time.
As part of this effort, the company had conducted extensive air transportability trials for the third-generation submarine rescue system with the Indian Air Force’s Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft. The trials proved the functionality of the ground handling equipment provided by JFD to interface with the IL-76, enabling the safe loading and unloading of all elements of the submarine rescue system.
JFD noted that it has a presence on both east and west coasts of India to offer responsive support to regional contracts.
by Jr Ng
