July 13, 200521 yr From eDefense India Offered German U-214 Subs by Kenneth B. Sherman Jul. 13, 2005 India was believed as recently as June to be about to sign a $2-billion deal for six French Scorpene-class submarines, part of a fleet of 24 new boats to be obtained under Project 75. However, with that deal still stuck at the Cabinet level after two years, Germany has countered with an offer of its own – and one that may usher in a new threat to anti-submarine-warfare (ASW) aircraft. Germany last week offered U-214-class submarines, built by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) (Kiel, Germany), for a relative bargain of $460 million per boat (including a 25-30% discount) – far below the estimated $760 million per new Scorpene. HDW had just been exonerated by an Indian court of corruption charges and, thus, freed to make its bid. New Delhi last rejected an HDW bid in 2002, having previously bought four U-209-class subs in the 1980s.
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