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Conventional Submarines of India
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Project 75-I
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- 6 Scorpene class submarines are being constructed with Transfer of Technology from France
- The 6 Scorpene class submarines will be the core of India’s conventional attack submarine arm.
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6 Submarines of Project 75-I
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- INS Kalavari – Inducted in 2017
- INS Kandheri – To be inducted in May 2019
- INS Karanj – Under trials, to be inducted by end of 2019
- INS Vela – To be launched for trials in 2019
- INS Vagir – Being manufactured and assembled.
- INS Vagsheer – Being manufactured and assembled.
Significance
- The submarines built under the project will be capable of
- Anti submarine warfare
- Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions
- Underwater mining operations
- Note: While the first four submarines will be conventional, the two will be equipped with the Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system in order to stay underwater for longer duration
- The air-independent propulsion system will enable the submarines to stay submerged for longer duration and thus increase their operational range
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Nuclear-Powered Submarines
Nuclear submarines can be classified in to 2 categories namely SSN and SSBN
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SSN: (Submersible Ship Nuclear)
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- SSNs are attack submarines
- They are propelled by nuclear power.
- They are capable of launching conventional weapons like torpedoes and cruise missiles
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SSBN: (Submersible Ship Ballistic Nuclear)
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- SSBNs are also propelled by nuclear power.
- They are usually equipped with nuclear weapons like ballistic missiles.
- Therefore, they are usually used as deterrents and not as attack submarines.
- Nuclear-powered submarine fleet of India
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SSN Fleet
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Chakra-I
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- 1st nuclear-powered submarine to be inducted to Indian Navy.
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Chakra-II
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- 2nd nuclear submarine to be inducted into Indian Navy.
- It was inducted in 2012
- It is an advanced version of Chakra I with following features
- It can displace twice the amount of water compared to Chakra I, thereby higher operating depths.
- Higher speed of 30 knots
- The onboard nuclear reactor produces double the power.
- It has more advanced weapon system including tube-launched missiles.
- Chakra II is deployed with the Eastern Naval Command.
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Chakra-III
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- India and Russia have signed agreement for leasing of Akula class nuclear powered submarine Chakra III for $3 billion for at least 10 years.
- Powered by 190 MW nuclear power.
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SSBN Fleet
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Arihant
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- Under the Advanced Technology Vehicle programme, India has indigenously-built Arihant, SSBN.
- India’s 1st nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine
- Displacement capacity of 6,000 tonnes.
- Powered by an 83 MW pressurised light-water reactor with enriched uranium.
- Formally inducted on November 2019 marking the Nuclear Triad capability of India.
- Capable of launching K-15 Missile with a range of 750 km and K-4 ICBM with a range of 3,500 km.
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Arighat
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- 2nd Arihant-class submarine built under Advanced Technology Vessel Program.
- Powered by a pressurised water reactor
- Maximum speed of 12–15 knots (22–28 km/h) when on surface and 24 knots (44 km/h) when submerged
- 4 launch tubes can carry up to 12 K-15 Sagarika missiles or 4 four of the under-development K-4 missiles
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Poseidon
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- Anti Submarine Warfare aircraft, which India plans to acquire from USA.
- It is a boost to maritime ISR capabilities (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance)
- Long-range maritime patrol aircraft capable of undersea surveillance from a height of upto 40000 ft.
- It has operational speed of 450 mph and a range of 4,500 nautical miles.
- It has an operational time of upto 10 hours.
- It is equipped with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars capable of engaging multiple targets simultaneously.
- Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) radar will help locate submarines in deep seas.
- The India-version of Poseidon 8 is equipped with Harpoon Block-II missiles, MK-54 lightweight torpedoes to enhance its anti-submarine warfare capability.
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