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[url="http://www.domain-b.com/defence/air_space/iaf/20091128_tejas_lca_oneView.html"]India-made nuclear sub Arihant to ride the waves in two years news[/url]

03 December 2009

Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma

India's first indigenous nuclear submarine, INS Arihant (annihilator of enemies), will be inducted into the Indioan Navy fleet in two years or so, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma told reporters in New Delhi ahead of the Navy Day on Friday.



Arihant, the first submarine to be built under the advanced technology vessel (ATV) programme, was launched for sea trials on 26 July this year at the naval yard in Visakhapatnam by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gurcharan Kaur in the presence of the prime minister. (See: India launches indigenous nuke sub INS Arihant)



"Arihant demonstrates a quantum leap in the shipbuilding capabilities of the country. It is a nuclear-powered submarine which is indigenously designed and constructed," Admiral Verma said.



As India pursues the capacity to fire nuclear missiles from land, sea or air, the Navy now wants a well-balanced underwater strategic arm. This will include three SSBNs (nuclear-powered submarines with long-range strategic missiles) and six SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines) in the long-term.



The over 6,000-tonne INS Arihant will be more of `a technology demonstrator', rather than a fully-operational SSBN, for the subsequent follow-on nuclear submarines to follow.



But a fact glossed over in many reports is that the over 6,000-tonne INS Arihant will not be a fully-operational SSBN – it will be more of `a technology demonstrator' for the nuclear submarines to follow.



From Russia with love

A Russian Project 885 Severodvinsk class submarine –likely design base for the Indian ATV project

The navy will go nuclear much before this, however. After several glitches, India will finally get the 12,000-tonne `K-152 Nerpa' Akula-II class submarine from Russia on a 10-year lease. It will be renamed 'INS Chakra' before being inducted into the Indian Navy.



Nerpa will not come armed with long-range missiles due to international treaties like the Missile Technology Control Regime. But apart from being a potent hunter of enemy submarines, Nerpa will also help train Indian sailors in the complex art of operating, maintaining and deploying nuclear submarines like INS Arihant and its already-approved two follow-on vessels.



Admiral Verma himself was tight-lipped about Russia leasing out the 'Nerpa'. "I have no response for that," he said to queries on when Nerpa would join the Indian Navy.



However, reports from Moscow last month said that in spite of the delay in acceptance trials due to stormy sea conditions, the Russian navy is going ahead to commission the Akula-II class nuclear submarine by the year end.



"The Nerpa, built by the Amur Shipyard, will be delivered on time in December this year," governor of Khabarovsk Territory Vyacheslav Shport announced in mid-November. The deal is worth $650 million (a little over Rs3,000 crore).



The submarine is due to be handed over to India by March next year on lease. After its commissioning, the Russian Navy will train Indian Navy personnel on making the submarine operational. It would join the Indian Navy fleet after undergoing user trials.



Originally Russia was to deliver the Nerpa, said to be similar to the Arihant, by 2008, but delivery was deferred due to financial woes of the shipyard.



The mishap in Sea of Japan on 8 November 2008 led to further delay, as its trials were aborted following the death of 20 technical staff and crew due to the release of toxic freon gas from the fire suppression system in the sleeping quarters. A crew-member was arrested for tampering with a temperature gauge, which lead to the release of the toxic inert gas.



Long way to go

Without elaborating, Admiral Verma said that the "tremendous amount of capability'' gained in the ATV (advanced technology vessel) project under which INS Arihant was built would not be allowed to wither away.



The government has sanctioned well over Rs30,000 crore for the ATV project to construct three submarines, with the third being of a much larger size.



The 26 July `launch' of the 111-metre INS Arihant by flooding the dry dock at Visakhapatnam in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh marked India's entry into the select group of five nations – the US, the UK, Russia, France and China - capable of building nuclear submarines.



But there is still a long way to go. It's only after its miniature 83 mw pressurised light-water reactor is `fired' sometime next year will INS Arihant begin its extensive sea-acceptance trials.



Only after that will the testing of 700-km range K-15 SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) developed by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) to arm the submarine come into play.



K-15 falls way short of the over 5,000-km range missiles of the US, Russia and China. The last, for instance, has a huge fleet of 62 submarines, with at least 10 of them nuclear-powered, and is also ready with its new JL-2 SLBM, which has a strike range of over 7,200 km.



The Navy has also started looking for a suitable place to start a second assembly line for constructing six additional submarines in addition to half-a-dozen Scorpene subs currently under construction in Mazgaon dock in Mumbai with French collaboration.



''A high-level team headed by a department of defence production official is in the process of identifying the shipyard where the second line will come up,'' the Navy chief said.



The Navy has issued a request for information to procure fighters for the proposed second indigenous aircraft carrier. The first IAC will have MiG-29 K and LCA naval version that can enter the compatibility trial phase in 2013. A request for proposal has been issued to procure six medium range maritime surveillance aircraft.



Admiral Verma denied that the Navy's blue water objectives had been diluted because of the additional brown water responsibilities closer to the shore in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last year.



After the terror strike, the Navy has been entrusted with the responsibility of overall maritime security through proper coordination involving many central and state agencies including Coast Guard, Customs, Marine Police, Central Industrial Security Force and fisherfolk.



A national maritime domain awareness document will be brought out in a few months to inform various government departments how to distinguish between the friend and foe on the high seas, Admiral Verma said.