India’s Submarine Power: Key Facts & Pressing Issues
A submarine is a marine vessel (technically a boat) capable of carrying out various operations under water. Submarines are used for military as well as civilian purposes. Military uses include attacking enemy’s ships and submarines, blockade running etc. Civilian purposes include research activities under sea like exploration of sea floor, search and rescue operations, undersea cable repair, tourism, undersea archaeology etc.
Recent Context : INS Karanj was launched in Mumbai on January 31, 2018. It is reincarnation of an older submarine that was in operation from 1969 to 2003. It served the country for 34 years and was also part of operations in 1971.
Conventional and Nuclear Powered Submarines
Submarines are of two main type viz. Conventional and Nuclear-powered. A Conventional submarine uses a diesel-electric engine and need to resurface frequently to get atmospheric oxygen for combustion of the fuel. Therefore, they cannot remain under water for a long period which increased their vulnerability to attack by the enemy forces.
On the other hand, the nuclear-powered submarine is powered by nuclear reactor and works completely independent of air so can remain under water for a long time. We note that the current generations of nuclear submarines never need to be refueled throughout their 25-year lifespan. Food and human need are the only limiting factors for a nuclear submarine. Further, large amount of power generated by a nuclear reactor allows nuclear submarines to operate at high speed for long periods of time. The conventional subs have a less speed in comparison.
Despite of so many advantages of nuclear powered submarines, currently, only few countries have acquired them due to high cost of nuclear technology involved in their making.
India’s submarine Fleet
India’s active submarine fleet consists of both conventional and nuclear class submarines. Few basic facts about the submarine fleet of India are as follows:
Conventional nuclear submarines of India
The conventional nuclear submarines of India are belong to three different classes viz. Shishumar, Sindhughosh and Scorpene / Kalavari.
Shishumar class
Submarines of this class were developed with the help of a German company. This class includes INS Shishumar (commissioned in 1986), INS Shankush (commissioned in 1986), INS Shalki (commissioned in 1992), INS Shanku (commissioned in 1994). First two were built in Germany and other two at Mazagon Dock Ltd at Mumbai.
Sindhugosh Class
Sindhughosh class submarines were developed under a contract between Russia and India and were commissioned in 1980s and 1990s. This class includes INS Sindhughosh, INS Sindhuraj, INS Sindhuvir, INS Sindhuratna,INS Sindhukeasari, INS Sindhukriti, INS Sindhuvijay, INS Sindhurashtra, INS Sindhurakshak, INS Sindhydhvaj .Out of all the submarines, INS Sindhurakshak caught fire and exploded in 2013 and finally it was decommissioned in 2017.
Scorpene / Kalavari Class
Scorpene Class submarines are part of India’s Project-75 wherein submarines are designed by a French company-DCNS but are manufacture at Mazagoan Dock Limited under technology transfer agreement. Under these, six submarines will be built. INS Kalvari is the first under this class which was commissioned in 2017. Kalvari is capable of handling various missions such as anti-surface warfare (attacking surface ships), anti-submarine warfare (destroying submarines), intelligence gathering, mine-laying and area surveillance. Other two-INS Khanderi and INS Karanj (bought from France) are undergoing trials and are expected to be commissioned by 2018. Other three which are planned to be built are-INS Vela, INS Vagir, INS Vaghsheer.
Nuclear powered submarines
India has three nuclear powered submarines as of today viz. INS Chakra, INS Arihant and INS Aridaman.
INS chakra
Inducted in April 2012, INS Chakra is an Akula-II class submarine built by Russia and has been given on lease to India for 10 years.
INS Arihant
Commissioned into Indian Navy in 2016 it is the first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine belonging to Arihant Class. It made India the first country outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (US, Russia, UK, France, China) to have indigenously built a nuclear submarine. The first Indian SSBN (ballistic missile submarine) and can carry twelve Sagarika (K-15) submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) that have ranges of 700 km. The submarine can also carry torpedoes and submarine launched cruise missiles (SLCMs).
INS Aridaman
It also belong to Arihant class and will be likely to be operational by 2019 it will also be indigenously build with better features compared to INS Arihant. It can launch K-15 as well as K-4 missiles.
Major Issues in Submarine Programme
The major issues & concerns around submarine power in India are as follows:
India has a very small fleet of operational submarines
One of the most important concern regarding India’s submarine power is that due to insufficient fleet, India faces tough security for its neighbors especially China. India has 15 submarines operational, including two nuclear subs, in contrast to China’s 70 operational submarines. This gap is expected to increase as China is pouring in huge money as well as dedicated efforts in terms of technology to strengthen its fleet.
The problem is compounded by the China’s presence in the vicinity of the Indian Ocean and African Coast through OBOR and covert operations near African coast (stated to be antipiracy operations), building of Gwadar Port etc.
India does not have a right mix of submarines
Indian Navy does not have an appropriate mix of all the types of submarines to handle littoral as well as under water warfare effectively. A right mix of SSK (diesel powered), SSN (Nuclear powered attack submarines), SSBN (can carry ballistic missiles) is very important. Currently, India has only one SSBNs -INS Arihant, one SSN, a Russian Akula class submarine taken on lease in 2012 for 10 years and only 13 SSKs-Sindhughosh class and Shishumar class. On the other hand, China currently has 5 SSNs, 4 SSBNs and 53 SSKs.
India’s projects complete in ages
Delay in execution of projects is one of the most pressing issues. We take example of Project 75, which was envisaged in 1990s but it’s only now that one of the submarines under the project i.e. INS Kalvari has been inducted into the navy. Its induction was also delayed by more than five years ago due to problems relating to transfer of technology etc. Another Project-75 (I) a program for building next generation six SSKs has been recently cleared after many years.
India’s existing submarine fleet is aging
Fourth is the problem of aging of submarine fleet. Since 1996, India’s attack submarine fleet has dwindled to 13 diesel-electric vessels from 21 as the navy failed to replace retired boats. The entire fleet — a mixture of Russian-origin Kilo class vessels and German HDW submarines — is at least 20 years old.
Way Ahead
India’s capacity to handle its security challenges in the Indian Ocean has been languishing especially its power as a blue water navy. So, it is high time India should increase its efforts along with leveraging the strategic interests of other nations.
China’s presence in the Indian Ocean has been cause of worry for not only the neighboring countries but also for US and Russia, who seeks India as an important partner to counterbalance China. They are more than willing to help India to track Chinese movements in the region. Therefore, mutual strategic concerns should be utilized by India to purchase submarines from these countries under technology transfer agreements. For example, India should speed up its efforts to finalize a deal with Russia for lease of INS Chakra III-a nuclear submarine. Along with this, India should also make appropriate budgetary allocations to strengthen our submarine fleet.
Model Questions for GS Mains
- Enumerate the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear powered submarines vis-a-vis conventional submarines.
- What is significance of submarine power in war and peace time? Discuss highlighting major problems faced by India towards strengthening its submarine power.
