New Delhi issues RFI for four locally made LPDs for Indian Navy

India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has invited responses from domestic shipyards by 21 October to its request for information (RFI) regarding the planned procurement of four landing platform dock (LPD) vessels for the Indian Navy (IN).

Issued on 24 August the RFI states that the proposed LPDs would be acquired under the MoD's Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 (DAP-2020), with the first vessel slated for delivery within 60 months of the contract being signed and the remaining three at one-year intervals.

All prospective shipyards would be permitted to enter into collaborative ventures with foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) before bidding for the tender to design and build the up to 200 m-long vessels, which are set to have a draught of up to 8 m when fully loaded.

IN officials told Janes that the MoD “consciously” declined to specify the LPDs' weight in the RFI, as doing so would “restrict” the platforms' eventual design parameters. They said the LPDs' estimated cost would also remain open for now, as would the schedule for issuing the tender.

The RFI specifies that the LPDs' operational requirements would include transporting and landing a “combined arms force” – as well as sustaining it ashore, embarking troops at sea for extended periods of time, and transporting a range of combat cargo to support land-based military operations.

Additionally, the LPDs would be used for out-of-area contingencies, as well as to act as a command centre for an amphibious task force and to carry out humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions, among other tasks.