India will have N-triad soon

After a series of setbacks, India’s long hunt for a nuclear submarine has finally gathered steam. For one, the new D-day for ‘launching’ the first indigenous nuclear submarine ‘into water’ for preliminary tests has been set for August 15. For another, with a high-level delegation led by defence secretary Vijay Singh currently in Moscow, Russia has now promised to deliver its Akula-II class attack submarine ‘K-152 Nerpa’ on a 10-year lease to India by the end of this year. Unlike conventional diesel-electric submarines which have to frequently surface to replenish oxygen to recharge their batteries, a nuclear-propelled submarine can operate underwater for virtually unlimited periods of time. Consequently, when a nuclear-powered submarine is armed with nucleartipped missiles, it becomes the most difficult-to-detect-and-target platform for launching nuclear strikes. This is especially important for India, which has declared ‘no first-use’ nuclear doctrine and hence must have ‘survivable and effective’ second-strike capabilities. The induction of nuclear submarines will help India achieve its long-standing aim to have an operational ‘nuclear triad’—the ability to deliver nukes from land, air and sea. The first of the three long-delayed indigenous nuclear submarines—being constructed since the mid-1980s under the ATV (advanced technology vessel) project worth around Rs 30,000 crore now—will “be put into water’’ by flooding the dry dock at the Visakhapatnam naval dockyard on August 15. The 5,000-tonne ATV, with a miniature 80 MW pressurised water reactor fitted in the hull, however, will be ready for actual sea trials only by mid-2010. “Work on the K-15 SLBM, which initially will have a range of 750 km, is also under way to integrate it with the ATV,’’ said a source. The DRDO and the navy are keeping their fingers crossed, since the ATV’s January 26 launch was delayed due to technical snags. Simultaneously, things are looking up on the other front too. After 20 technicians were killed due to a toxic gas leak during its initial sea trials on November 8 last year, the technical faults in the Russian Nerpa sub have now been rectified at the Amur Shipyard. “After predelivery trials and commissioning, Nerpa should be handed over to us for the 10-year lease by end-2009,’’ said an official. India, incidentally, has already paid Russia around $650 million to lease the 12,000-tonne Nerpa under a secret deal signed in early-2004.