India's nuclear-powered submarine ready


Published: July 13, 2009 at 9:48 AM

NEW DELHI, July 13 (UPI) -- If all goes as planned, India, according to various reports, will soon join the exclusive club of nations with their own domestically built nuclear-powered submarines, marking a giant leap for its naval defense.

More than 20 years in the making and until now known only as the Advanced Technology Vehicle project, the Indian navy's new nuclear-powered submarine named INS Chakra is expected to be launched in the coming weeks to begin its sea trials, the Indian Express newspaper reported.

The report said the 7,700-ton INS Chakra will undergo sea trials for several months after entering the waters of the Bay of Bengal from the Vishakhapatnam port in southeastern Andhra Pradesh state. It is designed to carry intermediate-range submarine-launched missiles that have already been tested on the eastern coast, the report said.

The INS Chakra is the first of five such nuclear-powered submarines India reportedly plans under its Advanced Technology Vessel program to complete its triad of air, land and sea-based nuclear weapons systems.

The nuclear-powered submarine is also seen as helping to strengthen the navy's presence in its traditional sea lanes in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean and to keep its sea lines of communication open and unhindered.

The Financial Times reported the INS Chakra, which cost about $2.9 billion, is based on the Russian Akula-I class submarine. Its pressurized water reactor was developed at the atomic research center in Kalpakkam in southern Tamil Nadu state.

"This is a historic and big step forward. The project is quite indigenous and it opens the door for deploying nuclear weapons in the ocean," C. Raja Mohan, professor of south Asian studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, told the Financial Times.

One Indian expert told the Financial Times that China, with eight nuclear submarines and three times the number of combat vessels, is quite ahead of India.

Separately, Indian media reports said Russia had resumed pre-delivery trials this month of its Akula class nuclear submarine to be leased to the Indian navy later this year.

The Financial Times said India also is waiting to take delivery of a 30-year-old refitted Russian aircraft carrier as wells as building six French-designed Scorpene diesel submarines.

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India plans trials of first nuclear sub: officials

18 hours ago

NEW DELHI (AFP) — India is set to begin sea trials of its first nuclear-powered submarine later this month, joining an elite club that includes neighbouring giant China, defence ministry officials said Monday.

The Indian-developed submarine, which would provide the South Asian nation with an underwater ballistic missile launch capability, will begin trials in the Bay of Bengal, off the southern Indian city of Vishakapatnam.

"This will be the start of a series of strenuous trials which will continue for several months," said one official who declined to be named.

The induction of the 7,000-ton vessel will put India alongside Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States in the club of nations with nuclear-powered submarines.

The Press Trust of India, quoting unnamed sources, reported the submarine will carry a ballistic missile system first tested in February 2008, but ministry officials declined to confirm or deny the report.

The submarine is the first in a planned fleet of five.

Domestic media last month quoted Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy chief of Russia's federal service for military-technical cooperation, as saying Moscow had agreed to lease a 12,000-ton Akula class nuclear submarine to India.

India is also in the final stages of negotiations for a refurbished Russian aircraft carrier. The vessel, Admiral Gorshkov, is scheduled to be delivered for sea trials by 2012.

New Delhi has also signed contracts worth 2.4 billion euros (three billion dollars) with Armaris and European defence firm MBDA to acquire six Franco-Spanish Scorpene submarines.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.

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Tuesday, July 14th 2009 - 12:01 am UTC
India joins the exclusive club of nuclear powered submarines

As part of a major project India is going to place its first domestically produced nuclear powered submarine to sea by mid-August and according to experts, this success will raise the status of Indian technology plus becoming a member of the exclusive club of nations with such submersibles, according to reports in the Indian press.

The 7.000-metric-ton INS Chakra is destined to be the first of five nuclear-powered submarines that India is determined to deploy by means of its Advanced Technology Vessel program. The single vessel is likely to contain ballistic missiles and in this way India’s aim of developing air-, land-, and sea-based nuclear weapons systems may be a reality before long.

Testing of the new vessel is scheduled to be conducted by mid-August in the Bay of Bengal and will take months, said Indian defence sources.

The submarine is based on the Russian Akula I model. The overall cost is 2.9 billion US dollars and is scheduled to become operational within two years. C. Raja Mohan, a Singapore-based professor of South Asian studies is quoted by the Financial Times saying that “this is a historic and big step forward”.

“The project is quite indigenous and it opens the door for the deploying by India of nuclear weapons in the ocean.”

Commenting on the disclosure a senior Indian official reaffirmed that New Delhi has no plans to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, reported the Indian press.

“No sir,” said Minister of State Prithviraj Chavan when asked whether India has the intention to join the pact, which enlists signatory nations to promote non-proliferation, disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear technology.

The other five countries which already possess nuclear powered submarines are United States, Russia, Great Britain, France and China, all permanent members of the UN Security council.

India is one of a handful of nations known or widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons — including rival Pakistan and Israel — that has refused to sign the non proliferation document.