Germany's Thyssenkrupp and India's Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MAZG.NS) in June 2023 signed an agreement to participate in a submarine tender by the Indian Navy that sources said has a value of around $5.2 billion.

As part of the planned cooperation, Thyssenkrupp would take care of engineering and design, while Mazagon would be in charge of construction and the delivery of six submarines the Indian Navy has tendered, Thyssenkrupp said.

The submarines are part of Project 75I, which is a $4.8 billion deal for six conventional diesel submarines. The submarines are being offered to counter Pakistan and China.

The HDW-214 Class submarines are single-hull, one-compartment submarines. They combine the design principles of the HDW Class 209 family and the excellent features of HDW Class 212A boats.

The boats India bought from Thyssenkrupp, built in the 1980s are still in service today.

The other contender in the fray is Spain’s Navantia. Navantia has partnered with private shipyard Larsen and Toubro.

Specifications for the HDW Class 214 submarine:

Length: 65 meters (213 feet 3 inches)
Beam: 6.3 meters (20 ft 8 in)
Draft: 6.0 meters (19 ft 8 in)
Displacement: 1860 tons (submerged)
Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h) - surface / 20 knots (37 km/h) - submerged
Range, surfaced: 12000 NM (22200 km)
Range, submerged on batteries: 420 NM (780 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h)
Diving depth: More than 400 meters (more than 1,400 feet)
Pressure hull diameter: 6.3 m
Surface displacement: 2,000 t
Height incl. sail: 13 m

The HDW Class 214 is a diesel-electric submarine. It has diesel propulsion with an Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system that uses a Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell.

The submarine has eight 533mm torpedo tubes.

It can also deploy heavyweight torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, and lay mines.