India took another step Wednesday toward elevating its navy toward joining the other elite global maritime powers when it announced its first home-built nuclear submarine was set for sea trials.
In April, the Indian navy introduced a Russian-leased nuclear submarine into its fleet joining the United States, France,China, Britain and Russia as the only navies with nuclear-powered vessels.
The INS Arihant will mark the India navies and its defense industries next step proving it can build their own fleet. The Arihant (Destroyer of Enemies) was introduced three years ago as part of a larger Indian naval strategy to build five submarines loaded with nuclear tipped missiles.
“Our maritime and nuclear doctrine will then be aligned to ensure that our nuclear insurance comes from the sea,” Indian navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said.
The 6,000 ton Arihant will carry a 95-member crew with the potential to run 24 knots powered by an 85-megawatt nuclear reactor.
It will be telling to see if India’s coming submarine fleet launches a new arms race in the region.
{ 81 comments… read them below or add one }
RE: It will be telling to see if India’s coming submarine fleet launches a new arms race in the region.
How can it not?
What is next, War Games with people that believe in re-incarnation?
…. p.s. I'm not against any religions, just Nuclear Wars…
Like us and the Soviets, there is a large contingent of people who just don't want to die, whether or not they believe in some sort of resurrection. As for the nominally godless Soviets, dying for freedom is acceptable, but when un-necessary it's just a waste.
They need a nuclear sub if they intend to go for sea lane control…but who with? Pakistan is next door and can be shut down with some diesels.
PRC?
Yep. We were discussing this a couple weeks ago on here about the bases in the Philipinnes and other South Pacific sea lanes where China is pushing its influence.
So what is the over under for how long till this sub sinks? I'm assuming they received a lot of technical assistance from Russia which does not bode well for the Indian sailors.
As for an arms race… With whom? Pakistan? You need capable adversaries for an arms race. I do not see Pakistan building a nuclear sub.
Investing in war, nuclear, and ego are humanity's primary downfalls. There is no good reason to add more nuclear military to the ocean and world stock when what people really need are: health care, safe food/agriculture, and access to education and training in employment fields that support sustainable activities. India's decision to throw another nuc sub in the oceans is far too expensive and does nothing for its people but put them and the world at greater risk. No Nukes, No War.
you have to have something to defend all that health care, food, agriculture, education, and employment with. You don't defend yourself with a sword when the local warlords have rifles. You don't defend yourself with primarily conventional forces when the potential conquering neighbors have more man power, air power, and nukes at their disposal.
An armed neighborhood is a polite neighborhood, religeous extremests not withstanding. In addition, put your nukes on a sub and its MUCH harder for someone to blow them up and take away your nuclear deterrant. First they have to FIND them to blow them up.
I guess diesel subs are okay because nuclear is Satan.
Reply to No War Now. . . I knew it wouldn't take long to have some lib come along and start with the Health Care, starving billions and education. . .If people were really educated they could see that Liberal policies have done more to starve the poor, and deny them a real education than all the nuclear weapons and militaries ever have. I see this as India being more capable of defending itself. Liberals talk alot and always mess things up.
Cheers
You look at his response from an American perspective.
The guy is probably right, have you seen how shitty India is?
I think blowing shit up is awesome, but you need a meal in your belly before you march off to war.
freedom cost blood and money your living in a pipe dream
"No nukes, no war."
Which is why sub-Saharan Africa, Syria, and many other places are such garden spots. Almost all wars have been fought without nukes. India has real enemies that would do them harm, given the opportunity. The Indian government owes the Indian people deterrence from attacks.
Because Mitt Romney secretly runs India, the plan is for a very big war, with dogs strapped to the top of every Plane, Tank and Sub. Hopefully a large Nuke exchange will drop India's population down to a managable 250 million. With all the availible land Bain capital can invest in sustainable farms without healthcare so that excess unproductive people can all die when Mitt gives them cancer.
In the long term, China is potentially a greater threat to India than Pakistan. Especially at sea. To achieve parity at some future date, India has to start now.
Maybe india seeks t oinsure its OWN security and sea lanes as opposed to expecting someone else to do it for them. Nothing irrational about that.
I rather India further ahead than China. Even with more government corruption. it's close but I think India beats china out on that.
They can put together a boomer, and A/C carrier AND have mobile phone service for their people just as advanced as the US but with A BILLION more people yet have cheaper rates and unlimited data while our mobile services over here complain the data networks are overloaded and unsustainable. If India can handle it at a lower cost and a hell mot more users without throttling indicates our providers LIE and we must call them out on it.
I know off topic but India can be the quiet dark horse down the road that'll surprise everyone I bet.
"is your submarine turned on?"
I'm sorry you cannot receive emails sir but I will be happy to assist you. First can you please verify your at periscope depth and your VHF antenna is extended?
If your torpedoes cannot fire, please remove the torpedo from the tube and put them back in….
but first verify that you put the torpedo in the tube before you pressed trigger….
If Green Bay can host an NFL team, India can have a nuclear submarine.
It's a club, mom, and all the other guys are in it.
Go Pack, go!!!!
Given that 600,000,000 Indians suffered a power cut last week, perhaps they should plug that sub’s reactor into the national grid (they’d then only need another 240 submarines to make up the country’s megawatt shortfall, so perhaps not a practical suggestion), or at least invest in some infrastructure projects.
Hundreds of millions of people in India live in poverty – over half the population by some measures. These are people who live without clean water, sanitation or sufficient food – still got money for nuclear missile armed submarines though. You have to question these folks’ priorities. Do India’s poor appreciate that their dirty, overcrowded, diseased and rodent infested slums are protected by the best nuclear umbrella that money can buy?
Perhaps they should put more money into leveraging their thorium for non-proliferative nuclear power. If they find a good way to get rid of the waste, give us a page and we'll outsource it to you!
The poor also bear responsibility though, for continuing to bear children in the midst of poverty.
But they need to send the kids out to work.
I don't suppose there are many other leisure oportunities in a calcutta slum either.
The Indian government policy is to let the poor die by the wayside. The Poverty pool is getting smaller in India, and getting much larger in the USA. Why any of us are concerned what they do in their own country always makes me laugh. India is a frontline partner of ours in the war against Islamists. When I went with 5th SFG in 2006, the Indian were training us, not the other way around.
You can tell the Indians have had alot of Russian influence on there sub design. There new sub looks like a older Soviet sub.
It is a Russian sub. The Akula class. I dont know why the story says its 'home built'?
Apparently its had a major accident just before handing over to India . Halon release asphyxiated 20 people
Yes, it's fire suppression unit malfunctioned apparently whilst the sub was in it's Russian guise as RFS Nerpa
That was a Russian Akula Class SSN we took on lease. This is a Boomer, whose primary task is a Nuclear second Strike.
This news article is a double feature. Paragraph one announces the Arihant is on sea trials for the Indian Navy. Para two relates to the introduction of the Russian sub.
BTW the photo shown in this article is not of the Arihant, it appears to be a Kilo.
This is what she looks like: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iibL3efnMDw/TBRNqrLlKPI…
it could be a kilo, but there's more than one type of boat with that kind of shape.
Thought so, good spotting.
India is surrounded by terrorist countries. China on the north/NE, illegally occupying Tibet and Pakistan (Islam) on the North/NW. Both have bad blood with India.
So India will have to fight two enemies at the same time as China has been propping Pakistan for decades basically with every weapon including nukes. Also, thanx to US for equipping it's non-NATO ally with some of the lethal weapons which will be and have been used against India.
For India's survival, whatever India has is not enough and need 'a lot more' to match China.
Come on, a nation with a population of a billion has the resources to be original. Find another name to call people you don't like. "Terrorist" is taken.
Does it have toilet facilities? You have to ask because most Indians do not have access to one. Or clean water. Gotta love a country that has its' priorities straight.
don't worry pal, it is much better than your PAKIstan, which completely depends on US/Euro aid. without aid it would collapse so soon.
They'd better hook up the nuclear reactor in that sub to their power grid. Good god, with a blackout for 700 million people last week puts India's potential to balance China in perspective!
some 11 years ago in hot summer time, there was a grid failure in north america,which took onario, michigan, w newyork and parts of eastern ohio without power for three straight days vs the indian grid failure for just about 10 hrs.
Thank the recession for ensuring this year has not been so bad in regards to power outages.
Yes, but only 11% of the country lost power, not HALF, as happened in India. Then again, there are 400 million Indians who had no access to electricity to begin with, so there you go; positive spin of the day goes something like this: India fully restores power, 400 million still without electricity.
They overloaded the power grid because the followed the Kyoto accord and closed 75% of their coal mines and 80% of their coal fired power plants. Hey thats exactly what we are doing.
Kyoto doesnt really apply to India ( or China)
I agree that India do need Civilian Nuke Power Plants, but considering the fact that the grid failure was restored within 10hrs for major cities and emergency services including transport plus another 12 hrs for full restore I don't think it to be much fuss.
And about China, the fact is that there is no thing such as free media or even medium for unbiased news from China, even Facebook is banned in China. I just wan't to say China is maybe a big hoax, no country can have so much growth with so much expenditure in terms of Olympics, military and etc. Indians have learned not to trust them after the skirmish of 1962.
"You didn't build that!"
Leave politics out of this.
Talk about hypocrisy. The Indian kiss-up disgusts me. So when China decides to build it's own power considering it is beating us in the long run, we need to shun it and put it down. I'm rather surprised since I haven't seen a "well one of our coast guard ships can blow it out of the water her der". That's right, you people are dumb and this is why Americans are considered idiots. Giving India leniency when it's one of the most corrupt countries in the world and is only an opportunist. Guess we Americans love socialists. Done with Defense Tech/Militaryphotoscrap and all this chicom rant. You know, I don't see any complaints of Russia building a STRING of military bases along the arctic.
Wasn't aware India is socialist country…
When We become Socialist?
Venividivici = dooshnozzle
India became socialist after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, i think, amended the preamble to the constitution of India declaring it to be a socialist state.
What does India & USA have in common?
apart from democracy, they also share enemies. check this out
Jehadi takeover can prompt Indo-US attack on Pakistan: book http://www.deccanherald.com/content/270148/jehadi…
I can see a sub arms race with China & India big time, better bunker down in Australia for sure.
Or use subs to harrass Pakistani ships?? scary.
Just so long as they don't name one Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds.
Thanks for the name my Jack Russel terrier, Domino, is now Shiva – destroyer of living rooms and sofas.
My $.2???? At least they can name a sub decently. The Arihant (Destroyer of Enemies). Better than the USS Gabby Giffords.
No way. Tell me we are not naming a US warship "USS Gabby Giffords". That's a joke, right?
NO Joke. A New Navy LCS has been selected by the Sec. of the Navy for that name in February. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gabrielle_Giffor…
Wow. I mean, I think what happened to her is a tragedy, but people experience FAR more tragic things in life than she has. I don't know what the Navy can point to which makes her stand out ahead of other *accomplished* Americans. If they want to name a ship after a tragedy, maybe they should consider the "USS 8.3% Unemployment" or the "USS $15.93 Trillion in Debt"…
OK, I'll get off my sopbax now…
But everybody in the political ruling class deserves a ship named after them! Having a ruling political elite was what America was founded on, right???
Yes it's tragic what happened to her but any one of the sailors or SEALs who have given their lives in these wars or those in our past deserve such an honor.
Commemorating Mrs. Giffords' long and illustrious career in the Navy, no wait, commemorating Mrs. Giffords' long support for our Naval forces, no wait, commemorating politicians who get shot in the head but don't die.
Just name it the USS PeeWee Herman, it makes as much sense and maybe the enemy will be laughing so hard we can sneak up on them.
Don't laugh. Worse ideas are floating arround. Folks in San Francisco think gay activist Harvey Milk deserves a ship… LBJ is due for the last of the Zumwalt DDG1000's. http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?rele…
Christ almighty, I can't even begin to fathom the depths of San Francisco's suckitude.
Why not the USS Joe Pesci?
San Francisco putting the gay lobby before everybody else including those who really deserve a ship named for their sacrifices or achievements? No surprise there.
Beats wasting a good name on a horrible ship.
Too bad we called the tiny boats Freedom and Independence. An LCS won't keep us free, and LCS aren't exactly independent.
Lol, good one blight.
They had a good article in Navy times about that fact a few weeks ago. U.S. law bars foreign shipyard workers from doing such tasks as preventive and corrective maintenance, deep cleaning and corrosion control — crucial work for a ship manned by only 50 or so sailors, meaning it will rely more on shore-based support than other U.S. Navy ships. … http://www.navytimes.com/prime/2012/07/PRIME-defe…
Jones Act, I presume?
And I guess it was too early to retire those Yellowstones. We need a tender for the LCS.
Nuclear sub puts to see with nuclear tipped missiles but india cant keep the power on to a large part of the population.
China
We see a mix of what I assume are Indian Navy stances being adopted by the crew some are at the US equivalent of attention, some at the equivalent to parade rest, and others in between (feet spread and arms at the side).
Assuming the guy waving is a civilian, thus we can exclude him from consideration, we have to ask ourselves if this navy lacks the discipline to stand in formation in a consistent fashion what other incompetent activities in their reactor and command center that may lead to this sub ending up on the ocean floor? This is a Russian sub and these aren't noted for their safety records.
I wonder if civilian nuclear power workers performance also correlates to their ability to stand at attention.
Maybe they are actors or civilian dockworkers shanghaiied into posing for Ministry of Defense photos?
Civilian and military requirements are different. A disciplined force is a proficient force these guys aren't demonstrating discipline and they're in charge of operating a nuclear reactor beneath the water in the open ocean.
Those Viet Cong sure looked sloppy, hanging about in their pointy hats.
Excuse me!
How does leasing a sub from Russia equal "home built"?
Wrong sub, India is leasing a Akula (after its lease on a Charlie expired).
This boomer is one they built.
If you find my previous comment you can see an actual photo of it.
It is nice to see that India has a good line of defense :)
w
So much India bashing. Actually the west hasn't moved on from its cold war era thinking.
I will try to explain things from a Indian perspective.
As a country India faced great threats from out side all through the history. It was constantly attacked and looted by the rulers from the east. Still its going on as newer forms such as terrorism, if you don't know few years back terrorists came to Mumbai from Pakistan and killed hundreds of innocent civilians. Our country is constantly at war against the terrorists from last few decades.
Yes, its true many in our country doesn't have access to basic access to sanitation. Many lives under the poverty line. Now we are the second most growing economy in the world and is spending billions of USD in eradicating poverty and in urban development and its more than that we spend on defense. Along with this, the national security is also of most important matter. Our country has two nuclear equipped neighbors as China, and Pakistan. China is claiming whole world to be theirs and is preparing seriously for world war 3. While Pakistan is accumulating more and more nukes as we speak. The point is the New Delhi is facing more nukes pointed towards it than any other capital.
In case of a Chinese attack who is going to defend us? the Europeans? They don't have the money to sustain a war against Libiya and is fully running on Chinese money. They want us toilet less India's money to get them out of debt crisis. But will wink about how poor India is and how India is wasting millions sending a rover to Moon and Mars. The Americans are more fair to their allies.
The point is we cant outsource our national security to any other big nation.Our military is capable of dealing with any threats the country may face and Its our duty to provide them with the best technologies and equipment's they need. That's why we are buying C-17's, C-130's, P-8I's, Apache's and Chinooks.