India and UK Advance Full Electric Propulsion Partnership for Indian Navy’s Four Next-Generation Landing Platform Docks

India and the United Kingdom are moving steadily towards establishing an indigenous Integrated Full Electric Propulsion capability for the Indian Navy, with the technology intended for the Navy’s next generation of large Landing Platform Docks. The programme represents one of the most technologically significant areas of India-UK defence cooperation and could fundamentally change how some of India’s largest future naval platforms generate, distribute and use electrical power.

The Indian Navy’s requirement itself has now moved forward significantly. Government procurement records published in February 2026 explicitly refer to the Acceptance of Necessity for procurement of four Landing Platform Docks, confirming that the programme covers four major amphibious vessels to be acquired through Indian shipbuilding capability.

At the same time, India and Britain have progressively built the framework for cooperation on the propulsion technology that could power these vessels. The two countries signed a Statement of Intent on electric propulsion in Portsmouth on November 28, 2024, establishing a framework for the co-design, co-creation and co-production of electric propulsion capability for future Indian naval ships.

The Ministry of Defence made clear at the time that the planned Landing Platform Docks, which are to be constructed at an Indian shipyard, are envisaged with a Full Electric Propulsion System.

From Statement of Intent to a Major Technology Programme

The electric-propulsion partnership did not begin with a simple purchase of British equipment.

India and the UK established an Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership to build industrial and technological cooperation in an area where the Royal Navy already has extensive operational experience. The partnership is intended to progressively develop Indian capability rather than merely deliver a finished imported propulsion package.

This approach took another step forward in October 2025, when the two governments signed an Implementing Arrangement to advance maritime electric propulsion cooperation to the next stage. The UK government placed the initial value of this phase at around £250 million.

The India-UK Vision 2035 subsequently identified the Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership as one of the programmes through which both countries intend to deepen defence collaboration in advanced technologies and co-development.

The two governments have also declared their intention to finalise an Inter-Governmental Agreement for cooperation in developing maritime electric propulsion systems for Indian naval platforms.

That progression — from a bilateral working group, to a Statement of Intent, an industrial partnership, an Implementing Arrangement and ultimately an Inter-Governmental Agreement — shows that electric propulsion has evolved into a long-term strategic technology programme between the two countries.

GE Vernova and BHEL at the Centre of Industrial Cooperation

The industrial component brings together Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and GE Vernova’s Power Conversion business, which had already entered into cooperation for development of Integrated Full Electric Propulsion technology for the Indian Navy.

BHEL brings extensive Indian experience in heavy electrical engineering, power systems and defence manufacturing, while GE’s Power Conversion business has decades of experience in naval electric propulsion, generators, motors, power electronics, control systems and electrical-network integration.

The companies are working towards establishing India’s first maritime Land Based Testing Facility for the propulsion architecture.

Such a facility is critical for a technology as complex as Integrated Full Electric Propulsion. Instead of installing newly developed machinery directly into a warship and attempting to integrate it at sea, engineers can assemble representative generators, motors, converters, switchboards, control systems and electrical networks on land.

The entire power-and-propulsion architecture can then be operated under simulated ship conditions, allowing engineers to study transient loads, machinery interaction, fault behaviour, power quality, control software and system reliability before the technology is installed aboard an operational naval platform.

The British government has previously indicated that the land-based test facility being developed by GE Vernova and BHEL is intended to support the next-generation LPD programme, with the objective of enabling an LPD to enter the water around 2030.

What Full Electric Propulsion Actually Means

Integrated Full Electric Propulsion represents a major departure from conventional naval propulsion.

In a traditional warship, a diesel engine or gas turbine may mechanically drive the ship’s propeller through shafts and gearboxes, while separate generators provide electricity for sensors, accommodation, communications and other equipment.

An IFEP vessel works differently.

The ship’s primary engines generate electricity rather than directly turning the propeller shafts. That electricity enters an integrated electrical network from which power can be supplied both to propulsion motors and to the ship’s other electrical systems.

Large electric motors then drive the propellers.

The result is effectively a floating power station in which electricity can be managed across propulsion and mission systems according to operational demand.

This architecture provides naval designers considerably greater flexibility in where generating machinery is positioned within a ship. It can also reduce dependence on long mechanical shaft arrangements between the prime mover and the propulsion system.

GE has highlighted advantages including greater flexibility in machinery selection and arrangement, potential improvements in fuel efficiency and opportunities to enhance aspects of a vessel’s stealth characteristics.

Why Future Warships Need Enormous Amounts of Electrical Power

The importance of IFEP extends well beyond the propellers.

Modern warships are becoming increasingly dependent on electricity.

Large active electronically scanned array radars, electronic-warfare equipment, powerful communication systems, data-processing centres, command systems, unmanned-vehicle infrastructure and advanced sensors can impose enormous demands on the ship’s electrical network.

Future weapons could make those demands even greater.

High-energy lasers, advanced electronic-warfare transmitters and other directed-energy systems may require substantial amounts of electrical power, including very large short-duration loads.

An integrated electrical architecture creates the possibility of distributing available generating capacity dynamically between propulsion and combat systems.

A ship travelling slowly during an amphibious operation, for example, may not require its maximum propulsion power. Part of the available generation capacity could instead support sensors, communications and other mission equipment.

GE describes its naval electrical technologies as supporting propulsion, high-power sensors, normal ship-service loads and pulse-power requirements for defence systems. Its naval technology portfolio spans applications from approximately 3 MW to 110 MW.

That scalability is particularly relevant to very large naval platforms such as LPDs.

Why the Landing Platform Dock Is an Ideal First Platform

Landing Platform Docks are among the largest and most versatile combat-support ships operated by modern navies.

They are designed to transport troops, vehicles, helicopters, landing craft, equipment and supplies and then place those forces ashore during amphibious operations. Their large internal volume also makes them valuable for humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, evacuation and expeditionary missions.

India currently operates INS Jalashwa as its principal Landing Platform Dock, but the four-vessel future programme is intended to provide an entirely new generation of indigenous amphibious capability.

The new ships could serve as much more than troop transports. Large flight decks, command-and-control facilities, extensive internal electrical networks and the potential integration of unmanned systems mean that power requirements will be significantly greater than those of older amphibious ships.

An Integrated Full Electric Propulsion architecture would therefore create a common power backbone capable of supporting both propulsion and the increasingly energy-intensive mission systems expected aboard future vessels.

Four LPDs Now Formally Reflected in the Procurement Process

The number of ships is no longer merely an older planning assumption.

The Government of India’s e-procurement system published tender documentation on February 11, 2026 under the Indian Navy and Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Navy), specifically titled “Details of Acceptance of Necessity for Procurement of 04 x Landing Platform Docks.”

The procurement documentation remained active through August 2026.

This is an important development because it demonstrates that the four-LPD programme has moved beyond conceptual discussion and is reflected in the formal acquisition process.

The Ministry of Defence has separately stated that future LPDs are to be constructed at an Indian shipyard, while its 2024 India-UK electric-propulsion announcement envisages those vessels carrying a Full Electric Propulsion System.

Together, these developments point towards a programme in which the hulls, integration and a substantial portion of the propulsion ecosystem could ultimately be developed within India.

British Experience Meets Indian Manufacturing Capability

Britain brings considerable experience in integrated naval electrical propulsion.

GE’s electric-propulsion technologies are already associated with major Royal Navy platforms, including the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, while British naval programmes have accumulated experience integrating large generators, motors, power converters and sophisticated ship-wide electrical distribution systems.

India, meanwhile, brings an increasingly capable domestic naval shipbuilding sector.

Indian shipyards now construct aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, submarines, fleet-support vessels, survey ships and numerous auxiliary platforms. The next challenge is progressively indigenising the high-value technologies inside those ships — engines, propulsion systems, sensors, weapons and advanced electrical architectures.

Electric propulsion represents precisely this next level of self-reliance.

Building the vessels domestically while importing an entire propulsion package would increase Indian shipbuilding capacity, but it would not create genuine sovereignty over the technology.

Co-designing, testing, manufacturing and supporting the system within India can.

A Strategic Technology Beyond the Four LPDs

The importance of the India-UK programme is unlikely to end with the four amphibious vessels.

Once India establishes a land-based IFEP test facility, engineering expertise, trained personnel, supply chains and manufacturing capability, much of that infrastructure can potentially support other classes of future naval platforms.

Large destroyers, future aircraft carriers and other power-intensive surface combatants increasingly benefit from integrated electrical architectures.

The Indian Navy would therefore acquire not simply four electric-propelled ships but the beginnings of a national maritime electric-propulsion technology base.

That distinction explains why the two governments repeatedly describe the programme in terms of co-design, co-development and indigenous capability.

India-UK Defence Cooperation Shifts Towards Co-Development

The electric propulsion programme also reflects the changing character of the broader India-UK defence relationship.

Earlier defence cooperation often revolved around the purchase or licensed manufacture of equipment developed overseas. The emerging partnership places greater emphasis on jointly developing technologies and integrating Indian companies into the manufacturing and engineering process.

India-UK Vision 2035 identifies advanced technology and co-development as central elements of the relationship and specifically names the Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership alongside cooperation on advanced jet-engine technologies.

That direction was reinforced during the 25th India-UK Defence Consultative Group meeting in New Delhi on August 21, 2026, where both governments reviewed ongoing defence-industrial cooperation with particular emphasis on research and development under India-UK Vision 2035 and the ten-year Defence Industrial Roadmap.

The naval electric-propulsion programme therefore sits within a much broader effort to move the defence partnership towards technology development rather than simple buyer-seller transactions.

A Major Step Towards Indigenous High-Power Naval Engineering

For the Indian Navy, Integrated Full Electric Propulsion could become one of the defining technologies of its next generation of large surface ships.

The four planned Landing Platform Docks provide an opportunity to introduce the capability at significant scale while simultaneously creating the industrial infrastructure necessary to test and manufacture it domestically.

For BHEL, the programme represents an opportunity to extend India’s heavy-electrical engineering capability into some of the most sophisticated naval propulsion systems in the world. For GE Vernova and the UK, it provides a long-term partnership with one of the world’s fastest-expanding indigenous naval shipbuilding ecosystems.

Most importantly for India, the programme is structured around building capability inside the country.

If successfully completed, the result will extend far beyond four amphibious warships. India would gain experience in high-power naval motors, generators, power converters, integrated electrical distribution, propulsion control and land-based system validation — technologies that are likely to become increasingly important as warships demand ever greater quantities of electrical power.

The four next-generation LPDs could therefore become the foundation for something substantially larger: India’s transition towards indigenous Integrated Full Electric Propulsion for a new generation of large, power-intensive naval platforms.

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