Indian Navy wants 6 Nuclear Attack Submarine
According to some media reports, Admiral Karambir Singh has stated the need of 6 SSN or nuclear attack submarine to Prime minister Narendra Modi, during a discussion about operation Samudra Setu II, which held on May 3rd.
As we are already aware, that the Indian Navy under operation Samudra Setu, is bringing much needed oxygen supply to India, during this struggling time of pandemic from friendly nations. So, the operation Samudra Setu II is an extension of that.
So, the limited sources that the Indian Navy has, is on national duty of bringing required oxygen and medical supplies from friendly nations, leaving their usual operational duty of being a deterrent against enemies in the region of indo pacific.
It’s not like, we don’t have anything to protect our interests in the oceans, it’s just the right time to point out the area we are lagging behind.
A Nuclear Powered Submarine, will give an unmatched capability, when it will come to long distance patrols for longer durations, while remaining undetected and being a strong deterrent at the same time. This is the capability that we need to have a stronghold in Indo Pacific.
According to an Indian Navy’s serving Admiral “The future not only lies in the Indo Pacific, but also the arctic route, that will open up due to receding snow fields “
This simply means, that our interests which will need protection, will soon go further from us and out of the reach of the conventional platforms. The SSNs will become the necessity.
These nuclear powered Submarines will have unlimited range, limited only by food supplies, and will be armed with Torpedoes, Anti-Ship Missiles, Mines etc. They will also be able to go much deeper, making it hard to detect.
Right now, India operate only one such submarine, which is leased from Russia and is an Akula class submarine, known as INS Chakra II. India also signed a leasing agreement with Russia in 2019 for around $3 Billion, for Akula 1 class Submarine, which will be known as INS Chakra III and will enter service from 2025.
Meanwhile China has added 12 SSN and 7 SSBN to its fleet, making its already powerful Navy, much more powerful, leaving India, with no other option, than shifting gear and upgrade.
Building SSNs is not a small process, seeing how past projects were undertaken, it will at least take a decade for the first submarine to roll out, if we start now. It can be a bit faster if we have a partner and a project which has already been worked upon, and this seems to be the strategy.
India is looking for a partner, it can be France, UK, US or Russia.
Even if we filter out more, it seems like France has the better chances of partnering with India in its future SSN project as they are India’s reliable partner and has one of the most advanced technology to offer.
