Interview | International Defence Commercial Director, Navantia, José Manuel Mondéjar

There has been a huge lag in the P-75I programme, from the time it was conceptualised until now. How will this affect your offer to the Indian Navy?

This will not affect our offer at all. During the lag we have continued with the development of S-80, on which is based our offer for P-75(I). Now S-80 is on trials (HAT & SAT), so we are offering the newest and real (not paper) submarine design that will be very close to being sea proven (if not already proven) by the time of the contract signature.

As a Strategic Partnership programme, the prime would be the Indian company, either in the public or the private sector. Or the programme might get divided between the two. What impact will this have on your partnership with one or two Indian companies?

Navantia has a very flexible ToT model, proven through several international programmes (including submarines in India). In that sense we feel comfortable working either with public or private sector. In case Indian Navy/ MoD decides to divide the work to take advantage of the strengths of each prime, we understand that the extra work for coordinating three parties would be partially mitigated by the best practices of each prime.

What level of engagement do you have with the possible Indian prime?

We have been working with both primes during the last few years through different offers and programmes. For P-75(I) we have been requested to give a technical proposal by both and we are fully committed to find the best solution with any of them.

What is the unique selling proposition of your submarine? What kind of techno