Indian Navy Soon To Be The Most Formidable Submarine Force On
The Planet! Here's
What You Need To Know
The most important thing about having nuclear weapons is a second strike capability. In a nuclear conflict, one who strikes first may win the war, but one who strikes second makes sure there is no one left to celebrate the win. That’s nuclear deterrence in a nutshell. While it sounds easy in theory, building a nuclear doctrine with a working second strike capability is anything but.
India, for example, has declared a no-first-use of nuclear weapons. Which means, that though India will not initiate a nuclear conflict, if attacked it will retaliate with such ferocity, that it will wipe the enemy off the face of the map. How does India intend to do this? Like any other superpower, India wants to use submarines.
Submarines for projection of power
If you think about it, submarines are the perfect weapons. Lurking in the depths of the oceans, they move around without being detected and surface to launch the attack on the unsuspecting enemy.
Erstwhile superpowers
USA and
Russia continue to use their
SSBNs (ballistic missile submarines) to great effect, projecting their might even today. These SSBNs ensure that even though the land-based missiles and airplanes may have been taken out, the enemy is guaranteed a sending off that it will never forget. And if India wants to be taken seriously on the world stage, it will have to start acting like a superpower, by being able to extend the country’s power across the globe. These submarines are therefore just what India needs.
Current state of submarine force
The current state of the
Navy’s underwater fleet is, for lack of a better word, worrisome. India currently has 9
Sindhughosh class (
Soviet Kilo class) and 4 Shishumar-class (
German HDW Type 209) diesel electric subs and a single nuclear powered
INS Chakra (Akula II class) sub. For a country with a coastline that measures more than 7,
500 km, a fleet of 15 submarines is just not enough. And 15 isn’t the actual number of subs available for duty, because some of them are in ports for refits and maintenance. In comparison,
China has a total of 67 submarines in its Navy.
Nuclear Submarine Program
India started building its first nuclear submarine, the
INS Arihant, under the highly secretive
ATV program. In fact the project was such a secret, that it wasn’t until July 2009, when it was actually launched, that it was even officially acknowledged to exist.
Work though had started back in the 80s, with Soviet help, to build a nuclear powered hunter-killer sub. India also leased a Charlie-I sub named the INS Chakra between
1987 and
1991 to gain experience in operating nuclear subs. The ATV though moved on from being an attack sub to a ballistic missile carrier as India conducted the second set of nuclear tests in
Pokhran. The biggest challenge faced was in miniaturising the Pressurised
Light Water Reactor which could fit in the tight confines of the sub’s hull.
Based on a
Russian design, a land-based version was built by
BARC before the actual reactor, of a reported 83 MW capacity, was placed in the sub.
Future Nuclear Boats
But it doesn’t stop here. A follow-on class of 6 SSBNs codenamed S5, almost twice as big as the Arihant-class, was also approved for development. These will be able to carry up to 12 K5 intercontinental ballistic missiles with
MIRV warheads. And SSBNs aren’t the only nuclear submarines that the Indian Navy will field.
Early this year, the government cleared a project to build six new hunter killer boats (
SSN) for the Navy. A joint Navy, BARC and
DRDO project, the boats will be designed by Navy’s Directorate of Naval
Design and be powered by a new reactor being developed by BARC. SSNs are as important as SSBNs as they can blockade important sea routes, denying the enemy access to important resources in an event of war, and shadow enemy ships. This new SSN will be similar in size to the Arihant-class but will carry advanced torpedoes and be able to move much quicker. Also, India is likely to lease another Akula II for 10 years in 2018, most likely the
Kashalot that is 60% complete and in need of funds.
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- published: 04 Jul 2016
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