The Défense Conseil International (DCI), the reference operator of the French Ministry of Defence for the transfer of French military know-how to international partners, has completed training of the first of two crews of Indian submariners for future Scorpène-type submarines. The training is part of the P-75 programme, launched between India and France in October 2005, which covers the construction of six Scorpène submarines by the Indian shipyard Mazagon Dock Limited.

Since September 2015, DCI has been in charge of training two crews for future Scorpène-type submarines, one of the most advanced and modern submarines in the world, thanks to a much higher degree of automation than previous-generation designs. Under the P-75 programme, DCI has deployed a team of nine expert submariners to train two crews, i.e. 100 Indian submariners, and transfer to them the know-how of the French Navy. The trainees include several instructors who will subsequently train the crews of the four other submarines in the P-75 programme.

The training, which was performed on land then onboard the submarine at the dockside and at sea, covered the submarine’s equipment and systems in accordance with current French Navy standards. Training covered the safe operation of the vessel, on the surface and submerged, in normal and degraded modes.

“We are delighted with the successful training of this first crew of Indian submariners. DCI has shown once again its capacity to transfer its know-how and its training systems to its foreign navy partners”, said Jean-Michel Palagos, Chairman and CEO of DCI. Training of the second crew is already under way.

Following Chile and Malaysia, India is the third country, ahead of Brazil, to receive submariner training from DCI, confirming the latter’s capacity to adapt to an international, intercultural environment.