India's new submarine

India's new submarine

Moscow - Jul 21, 2008: When the Indian government raised the issue of leasing a nuclear submarine from Russia, it focused negotiations on a multirole SSN, Project 971 Shchuka-B, known in the West as Akula, then under construction in the Far Eastern Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Like the previous Indian SSN, it was rechristened Chakra. On June 11, 2008, it started dockside trials. The submarine is expected to be handed over to India in the fall of 2009. The lease contract was signed in 2004 by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, now first deputy prime minister, during his visit to India. The price of a 10-year lease was fixed at $650 million. A special training center was built at the town of Sosnovy Bor and since has produced three Indian relief crews. The center also looks to a busy future: It will train crews for Indian-built SSNs. The deal gives India a credible combat unit and reinforces its navy appreciably. All experts, including Western ones, agree that Project 971 boats have a low noise profile and run quietly. In that respect they are considered the equal of the improved American Los Angeles class SSNs and, according to some specialists, even surpass them and compare with the more modern Sea Wolf and Virginia class. Apart from a low acoustic profile, Project 971 submarines also pack a hefty punch. Their armaments consist of four 650mm torpedo tubes with 12 torpedoes and four 533mm tubes with 28 torpedoes. Torpedoes can be replaced with submarine mines, cruise missiles, rocket-assisted torpedoes and a variety of other submersibles. The exact complement is not known. The main mystery is whether India will receive Shkval rocket-assisted torpedoes and long-range cruise missiles. Some sources say the submarine carries Club missiles. Will Russia benefit from the transfer? Views are divided, but the general consensus seems to be positive. If we give the official rhetoric on Russian-Indian relations a rest and concentrate on the real state of affairs, we'll see that India is Russia's strategic partner, and the positions of both on a great many international issues coincide. India's closest neighbor and rival of long standing, Pakistan, is allied with the United States and has been supported by it militarily for a long time now. The stationing of an Indian submarine in the region will require a further strengthening of both Pakistan's naval forces -- with reinforcements from the United States -- and of the U.S. presence in the Indian Ocean, which will divert U.S. forces from other areas. The Indian-built nuclear submarines expected to go into service in the next few years will further contribute to that trend.