*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - July 26, 2009: India launched its first nuclear-powered submarine on Sunday, officials said, underlining the military a
dvances made by the rapidly developing nation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it a "historic milestone in the country's defence preparedness" as the 6,000-tonne INS Arihant (Destroyer of Enemies) was named in the southern city of Visakhapatnam.
The submarine, the first of five planned, is powered by an 85-megawatt nuclear reactor and can reach 44 kilometres an hour (24 knots) underwater, according to defence officials.
It will be armed with torpedoes and ballistic missiles, and carry a crew of 95 men.
"We don't have any aggressive designs nor do we seek to threaten anyone," the Press Trust of India quoted Singh as saying at the launch.
"We seek an external environment in our region and beyond that is conducive to our peaceful development and protection of our value systems."
India is now part of an exclusive group of nations -- including China, France, the United States, Britain and Russia -- which own nuclear-powered submarines.
The vessel will undergo two years of sea trials in the Bay of Bengal before being commissioned for full service, according to PTI.
India previously leased a Russian-built nuclear submarine, and in 2005 signed contracts worth 2.4 billion euros (three billion dollars) to receive six diesel-electric Franco-Spanish Scorpene submarines.
The launch came as India marked the tenth anniversary of the brief but bloody Kargil conflict with arch-rival Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region.
More than 1,100 people, mostly Indian and Pakistani soldiers, died in the high-altitude offensive in the spring and summer of 1999 when Pakistan-based infiltrators crossed the icy frontier that separates the two countries.
At a service earlier in New Delhi, Singh paid tribute to the Indian troops who died during the conflict.
"They sacrificed their lives in defence of Indian unity and integrity," he said.
A year before Kargil, India conducted nuclear weapons tests and Pakistan responded with its own tests a few days later.
dvances made by the rapidly developing nation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it a "historic milestone in the country's defence preparedness" as the 6,000-tonne INS Arihant (Destroyer of Enemies) was named in the southern city of Visakhapatnam.
The submarine, the first of five planned, is powered by an 85-megawatt nuclear reactor and can reach 44 kilometres an hour (24 knots) underwater, according to defence officials.
It will be armed with torpedoes and ballistic missiles, and carry a crew of 95 men.
"We don't have any aggressive designs nor do we seek to threaten anyone," the Press Trust of India quoted Singh as saying at the launch.
"We seek an external environment in our region and beyond that is conducive to our peaceful development and protection of our value systems."
India is now part of an exclusive group of nations -- including China, France, the United States, Britain and Russia -- which own nuclear-powered submarines.
The vessel will undergo two years of sea trials in the Bay of Bengal before being commissioned for full service, according to PTI.
India previously leased a Russian-built nuclear submarine, and in 2005 signed contracts worth 2.4 billion euros (three billion dollars) to receive six diesel-electric Franco-Spanish Scorpene submarines.
The launch came as India marked the tenth anniversary of the brief but bloody Kargil conflict with arch-rival Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region.
More than 1,100 people, mostly Indian and Pakistani soldiers, died in the high-altitude offensive in the spring and summer of 1999 when Pakistan-based infiltrators crossed the icy frontier that separates the two countries.
At a service earlier in New Delhi, Singh paid tribute to the Indian troops who died during the conflict.
"They sacrificed their lives in defence of Indian unity and integrity," he said.
A year before Kargil, India conducted nuclear weapons tests and Pakistan responded with its own tests a few days later.The nuclear submarine is 110 meters in length and 11 meters in width, and has a surface displacement of 6000 tonnes. Navy sources said that work is in progress for building a second nuclear submarine.
With Sunday’s launch, India enters the exclusive club of five countries comprising US, Russia, France and China, which have capabilities to develop nuclear submarines that operate nuclear submarine with the launch of the top-secret Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), called silent killers for its ability to remain under water for a long period due to its nuclear-powered engines.
The INS Arihant (destroyer of enemies) is a copy of Russian Charlie class nuclear submarine leased in 1980s. The trials of submarine here will prove its nuclear power plant and auxiliary systems before it goes to the Bay of Bengal for sea trials and weapon trials.
The INS Arihant will begin its underwater journey from Shipbuilding Centre here. Once submerged, it will undergo two years of extensive trials, first in harbour and then at sea, before formally joining the navy.
INS Arihant is a ballistic missile submarine armed with twelve K-15 missiles, each capable of carrying a 500-kg nuclear warhead to a target 750-km away.
At present submarines used by the Indian Navy are the diesel electric versions that have to come up to recharge their batteries, increasing their chances of being spotted.
For a brief period of three years from 1988-91 India used a nuclear submarine leased by Russia. Since then it has been trying to build one of its own.
India will also get couple of nuclear-powered Russian Akula class submarines this year. The INS Chakra, an Akula-2 class nuclear powered attack submarine, is already undergoing sea trials in the Pacific Ocean before coming to India for induction.
No comments:
Post a Comment