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India’s nuke triad complete

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Oct 19, 2016, 6:37 am IST
Updated : Oct 19, 2016, 6:37 am IST

Amid media reports of the Navy having commissioned into service India’s first indigenous nuclear powered submarine, INS Arihant, a top Navy official said on Tuesday an official announcement might be m

Amid media reports of the Navy having commissioned into service India’s first indigenous nuclear powered submarine, INS Arihant, a top Navy official said on Tuesday an official announcement might be made in the coming days.

At a press event, Indian Navy’s vice-admiral G.S. Pabby said: “There will soon be an opportunity to talk about it.” Till now, India had only land-based and air-based nuclear weapons delivery platforms. Arihant’s commissioning would complete the sea delivery platform.

The defence ministry and other top Navy officials contacted by this newspaper refused to confirm or deny the report and warded off pointed queries with a stock response. “We do not have any comment to offer, as being a sensitive platform it is beyond our mandate to do so”. A nuclear submarine in India’s arsenal would be of enormous deterrence value as it would imply a second strike capability. It means capability to launch nuclear-tipped missiles even if the land and air-based delivery platforms are rendered incapable.

Powered by a 83MW pressurised light-water reactor, Arihant would be deploying the K series missiles named after the father of India’s missile programme, former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. While the K15 has a range of 3,500km, K4 has a reach of 750km.

The greatest strength of the 6,000-tonne Arihant would be to remain underwater for months at a stretch, which would make it virtually invisible to the probing eyes of India’s adversaries — be it through satellites or other modes of intelligence — as it lurks silently in the dark depths. It would also allow the submarine to traverse long distances across the globe without being detected.

India’s plan to build three indigenous nuclear submarines started in 1990s. The second such submarine, INS Aridhaman, is also nearing completion.

In reply to another query, Mr Pabby said the last two of the six Scorpene submarines will not be fitted with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system as the , which is manufacturing the system, has missed the deadline. The AIPs allow the vessel to stay underwater for a longer duration.

“We are not looking at 5 and 6. In case we have to do it, we will do it as a retrofit,” the vice-admiral said. Kalvari, Indian Navy’s first indigenous Scorpene-class stealth submarine, is scheduled for induction by 2016-end.

The Scorpene submarines still do not have its main weapon — the heavyweight Black Shark torpedos which were manufactured by one of the subsidiaries of scam-tainted Italian firm Finmeccanica. The government had decided to withdraw the tender for the heavyweight torpedos.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi