Arm of India's Nuclear Triad!
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October-November 2016 Volume 11 No. 5 `100.00 (India-Based Buyer Only) www.spsnavalforces.com ROUNDUP THE ONLY NAVAL MAGAZINE FOR NAVIES ACROSS ASIA-PACIFIC PAGE 4 LEAD STORY Plugging Gaps in Strategic MDA Maritime events that could potentially affect India are not the only wide-ranging element of MDA but it is also essential that threats be identified as they evolve. the global nature of MDA activities occurring overseas and in foreign ports is very much a part of MDA. Arihant—Functional MDA must therefore be exercised over all oceans worldwide, and potentially cover all maritime interests that ultimately effect India. Rear Admiral Dr S. Kulshrestha (Retd) Arm of India’s PAGE 5 Indo-Russian Naval Cooperation Nuclear Triad! Once Arihant is fully operational India will proudly claim the membership to the exclusive club of other nuclear triad powers Ñ UK, USA, China, Russia and France PHOTOGRAPH: Indian Navy as they say in russian, ‘an old friend is Arihant’s missile tested, near ready for integration better than two new friends’. —Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. Lt General Naresh Chand (Retd) PAGE 6 Brown Water Navy’s Killer Boats Countries who do not need a full-fledged navy find FACs a suitable inexpensive option in lieu of navy. They are very effective in countering terrorist threats, preventing smuggling, anti-piracy and poaching of sea/ coastal resources. Lt General Naresh Chand (Retd) PAGE 8 Exercise Paschim Leher The nine-day long Exercise Paschim Leher tested the combat readiness of the Command at sea, including mobilisation and operational synchronisation Rear Admiral Sushil Ramsay (Retd) PLUS Naval Commanders’ Conference 2, 2016 7 Rear Admiral Sushil Ramsay (Retd) Strategic Vision for Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region 9 Rear Admiral Sushil Ramsay (Retd) n REAR ADMIRAL SUSHIL RAMSAY (RETD) lished under an umbrella of a classi- indigenous capability as a technology Appointments 10 fied project advanced technology vehicle demonstrator. News in Brief 11 DECISION TO CREATE indig- (ATV). Since then ATV Project (ATVP) With the launch of Arihant, which enous design, development has braved rough weathers and daunting translates to annihilator of enemies, by and construction capability challenges over the past four decades or the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for strategic arm of nuclear more. The worst phase of the programme on July 26, 2009, a major milestone in the powered ship submersible came with the downfall of former Soviet success story of ATVP had been accom- Aballistic nuclear (SSBN) was taken by the Union which under an Inter-Governmen- plished. Immediately thereafter most Government of India way back in the tal Agreement had promised to help crucial phase for the first of indigenous APPLIED FOR early 1970s. The programme was estab- India in creating this highly complex nuclear powered SSBN began. 5/2016 1 LEAD STORY This issue of SP’s Naval perspective of a highly classi- was simply a defensive strat- Water Navy and play a sig- Forces coincides with the fied technology demonstrator egy against a known military nificant role in coastal surveil- beginning of the festival sea- project of the country, its tech- or terrorist threat, it could be lance and defence apparatus. son and cooling of the weather nical specification, weapons obtained by forming defensive In addition, there is an exhaus- which also heralds an increase and equipment fit, operational layers around India. tive coverage on the Bilateral in the tempo of delegations capabilities and its present sta- Prime Minister Narendra Conference National Mari- visiting India and seminars and tus which indicate that Arihant Modi said after meeting Russian time Foundation and Centre trade fairs going up. The lead is on the threshold of being President Vladimir Putin on the for Naval Analyses, write-up on article is on Arihant Func- commissioned, but not just yet. sidelines of the BRICS Summit seminars and Naval Command- tional Arm of India s Nuclear This edition also places that, As they say in Russian, an ers Conference, the usual News Triad. Several leading news- before the readers an impor- old friend is better than two new in Brief and Flag Postings. papers on October 17, 2016, tant subject of Maritime Domain friends. Many defence deals We close this issue by wish- announced that INS Arihant Awareness (MDA) as it is with all-weather old friend Rus- ing you all happy reading! was formally commissioned directly linked with the maritime sia’ were finalised at the Prime EDITORIAL by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief security of the country. MDA Minister s level, which included of the Naval Staff, in August is the effective understand- Admiral Grigorovich class 2016. The news flustered the ing of all aspects associated (Project 11356) guided-missile strategists who wondered how with the global maritime envi- stealth frigate, nod for leasing such a powerful platform of ronment that could impact the another nuclear-powered sub- strategic importance could be security, safety, economy or marine and so on. Accordingly inducted in a hush-hush man- environment of a nation. The a write-up on the latest devel- ner! The author has analysed author argues that the MDA s opments in Indo-Russian Naval the reported news and very goal is to obtain a sense of Cooperation is included. candidly cleared the cobweb global awareness that reaches Then there is an article on of speculative reporting. The beyond the confines of the tacti- fast attack crafts which are an JAYANT BARANWAL article outlines the historical cal and regional levels. If MDA essential element of Brown Publisher & Editor-in-Chief PHOTOGRAPH: DPR Defence Arihant is propelled by a 83 MW pres- prises of only 13 conventional and ageing surised light-water reactor as its core. In submarines. 2013, the nuclear reactor of Arihant went Project 75 India for six next-generation Ô critical . Since then a series of daunting tri- conventional submarines with stealth tech- als began, the first being extensive Harbour nology and both Air Independent Propulsion Acceptance Trials (HATs). On successful system and land attack capability for longer completion of HATs from December 2014 underwater endurance and flexibility of oper- onwards began the crucial sea acceptance tri- ational deployment, seems nowhere on the als (SATs) which included extensive machin- horizon. The mounting cost of the Project is ery, equipment and systems trials out at another cause for concern due to delays, in sea, on surface and submerged. The most addition to seven to eight years of gestation intensive series of SATs was the test-firing of period before the first boat rolls out. K-series of missiles. The K-series of missiles In addition, last year the government have been named after former President, Dr has also approved the construction of six A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The K-15 submarine- nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) at a launched ballistic missile has a range of 750 project cost of over `50,000 crore. These km and the K-4 has a range of up to 3,500 highly complex, top-end technologies inten- km. While the test-firings in surface and sub- sive and sophisticated SSNs will entail pro- merged modes have been entirely success- ARIHANT CLASS (SSBN) longed gestation period of at least a decade ful, the weapons integration is still works in Dimensions Length – 112 m (367 ft), Beam – 15 m (49 ft), Draft – 10 m (33 ft) and more, before the lead submarine is progress. Based on the available reports, it inducted. This was certainly a forward- can safely be assumed that it will not be long Displacement (tonnes) 6,000 looking initiative, well within India s capa- before Arihant is fully ready to be deployed Propulsion PWR using 40 per cent enriched uranium fuel (80 MWe); one bility, to bridge the void created due to the on deterrent patrols, in naval parlance war turbine (1,11,000 hp/83 MW); one shaft; one 7-bladed, high- much-delayed implementation of approved patrol, with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. skew propeller (estimated) schemes for the revitalising and modernis- However, some sources believe that the ves- ing the conventional submarines capability. sel is not yet fully ready to be deployed on Range Unlimited except by food supplies for the crew onboard As of now the nuclear-powered subma- Ò deterrent patrols with nuclear-tipped bal- Speed 12-15 knots surface, 24 knots dived rine fleet of Indian Navy comprises a sole listic missiles in its four silos. unit, INS Chakra, SSN on lease from Rus- Practically, all leading newspapers on Test Depth 300 m (980 ft) (estimated) sia but without the nuclear tipped mis- October 17, 2016, announced that INS Ari- Complement 95 siles. Negotiations are on for lease of a hant was formally commissioned by Admi- larger Akula class nuclear submarine from ral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff, in Sensors and BEL USHUS integrated sonar; indigenous sonar and tactical Russia to be used for operational training August 2016. At the same time, same sources Processing Systems weapons control system with active, passive, ranging, surveil- purposes. As per available reports, in the added that to maintain secrecy, it is not lance and intercept sonars and underwater communication backdrop of recently held BRICS Summit, being referred to as INS Arihant. INS which system Russian President Vladimir Putin has for- stands for ‘Indian Naval Ship’ is prefixed to Armament 6 x 533mm torpedoes, 12 x K-15 Sagarika SLBM (Range 750 km, mally made an offer for the lease of Akula a ship s name only after it is ceremoniously 8 MIRV each) or 4 x K-4 Shaurya SLBM (range up to 3,500 km) II class SSN to India.