INS ARIHANT OUR FIRST SSBN

(Carried by QUINT this afternoon)

SLAYER OF ENEMIES(INS ARIHANT)

The first indigenously built nuclear submarine Arihant has been commissioned without any fanfare. It was as silent as Arihant would be on her war patrol when she awaits the coded message received hundreds of feet beneath the sea, through a very low-frequency signal transmitted by a specially designed transmitting station. Very low-frequency signals are one of the primary modes of transmission  which penetrate the sea without attenuation to reach its recipient operating far away from the coast and deep down in the sea. This authorization to launch would be issued by the Nuclear Command Authority headed by the Prime Minister.

My mind races back to 1973, when a brilliant mathematician, Lt Cdr Subba Rao was the head of the electrical department of INS Kirpan, an anti-submarine Frigate. Her sister ship Khukri had been torpedoed and sunk off the Saurashtra coast in the 1971 war. I was freshly appointed as the Anti-Submarine Warfare officer after my course in 1972. In 1971, I was privileged to be on board INS Veer, one of the three Missile Boats which struck ships off Karachi in December. Subba Rao often talked about future wars and how a nuclear submarine would make the navy invincible in the IOR

A few years hence he volunteered to work with BARC to build a miniaturized nuclear reactor to be fitted in a submarine. Project 932 was its designation. That he was critical of the design and had to leave the DAE and later the navy was known to many. However, after his premature retirement, when he was detained at the airport before departing to the USA, ostensibly with classified documents, the story was extensively reported by the media. Not many followed the story of how he fought his own case until he was proved innocent and was later released after being locked up for years. The papers in his custody were found to be unclassified and from an open source. Collateral damages do occur in highly classified projects. But perhaps he contributed to remedying some inconsistencies in the design. This is the time to remember his courage of conviction against all odds.

A bit of historical background

Arihant would not have been built without the close and seamless interaction among the three key players; DAE, Indian Navy, and DRDO.

A timely agreement with the Soviets ensured that the design aspects were audited and a special facility at Kalpakkam was able to work on a downsized reactor. By the mid-1990s, DRDO was charged with the responsibilities of running this project. It was headed and steered by serving Naval officers assigned to the DRDO . The seamless integration was ably assisted by two critical factors. The knowledge shared by seasoned scientists from Russia and the foresight and perspicacity of the naval leadership which pursued the leasing of a nuclear submarine, later named INS Chakra.

Leasing of a nuclear submarine resulted in the transfer of expertise to man and run this complex machine, as also the creation of shore-based special safety teams and infrastructure which had to be created on the East coast. Currently, we have yet another nuclear submarines leased to us, a follow- on of the earlier Chakra . Yet another on lease is imminent. These could not have fructified without careful planning and the support of successive Governments.

Building a first of class warship or submarine is a lengthy process with institutional  checks and balances at each stage. The keel is laid and the hull built around with essential propulsion package and auxiliaries. She is  thereafter launched into the water as Arihant was in 2009.Essentially all the fitting out of weapons, sensors takes place after its launch . After installation of all equipment and machinery, they are independently tested before the process of Harbour Acceptance Trials (HATS)  commences. On successful completion ,the ship undergoes Sea Acceptance Trials which include all aspects of ship-borne systems including the live firing of weapons. This phase alone would typically take close to two years. Once the ship is commissioned, her work up is undertaken by the Flag Officer Sea Training and a similar set up for Submarines. It is only when the ship is certified fit for combat operation that she is deployed with operational commands.

The above is to clarify many doubts raised by ill-informed reportage on the state of a newly inducted unit of the Navy.

What can Arihant do?

Wars do not happen overnight. The period of tension prevailing between two belligerents often lead to preparation and deployment. Arihant can be deployed anywhere in the Indian ocean, Arabian Sea or in the Asia pacific region. Her endurance is limited not by logistics but by human endurance to remain submerged . Nuclear submarines neither surface nor enter harbour and can only be detected by advanced sensors deployed by ships, submarines and aircraft. Strategically placed  seabed sensors too play their part.

The existing combination of ship launched missiles, such as Brahmos, carrier-launched aircraft, surveillance and attack capability of the P8 Maritime patrol aircraft assisted by Satellite imagery and dedicated communication satellite for the navy is now augmented by a strategic asset which can remain over 3000 km from its intended target and complete her mission.

Would Aridhaman, the second of this class be followed by more? Indeed, published material also indicates that Attack submarines would also be built as part of our plans to secure our national interests.

Readers would do well not to fall prey to corybantic worshipers who sing paeans of all our adversaries and their 'infallible machines'. Just remember that we now build Fast attack craft, patrol vessels, landing craft, Minesweepers, Amphibious vessels, Frigates, Destroyers, submarines, nuclear submarines and  Aircraft Carriers . Look around, who else outside the Five members of the security council(the big boys) is capable of this?