Chairing a session on
India’s
nuclear deal with USA on 7th March at the India International
Centre where the speakers were the nuclear doyen K
Subrahmanyam and Raja Mohan of the Indian Express, former PM I
K Gujral shared an anecdote which holds relevance for the
Indian Navy’s plans to possess nuclear submarines with
underwater launched long range missiles.
It is now in
the public domain that the ATV project, a technology
demonstrator is an expensive and laudable technological
programme, which is supported by many vendors including Larsen
and Tubro, Mazdock, Tatas and BHEL. IK Gujral unveiled how in
1979, when he was Ambassador in Russia and C Subramaniam and K
Subrahmanyam were the Defence Minister and Defence Secretary
(Production) respectively in MOD, had asked him to meet
Admiral Sergei Gorshkov and seek help and guidance on India’s
quest for nuclear submarines. Gorshkov, one of the finest
naval minds of the last century, made Shri Gujral look at the
chart/map of the Indian Ocean. Then he explained how India was
hemmed in by the Straits on both sides and said China had
nuclear submarines and so India must also. Relations between
Russia and China had soured.
The rest is history, and INS Chakra was given by Gorshkov on
lease from 1987 to 1991 and under the guidance of late Dr Raja
Ramanna the ATV project took off in 1983. Defence Ministers of
India Pranab Mukherjee and Ivanov of Russia jointly
acknowledged the project in
Moscow in
December 2005 and wowed to complete it. A few thousand crores
spent on it makes it the next most expensive DRDO project
after the LCA. Recently as part of the President’s Review of
the Fleet Dr APJ Kalam who had steered the project earlier
visited the sprawling restricted project site at Vishakapatnam.
A nuclear Submarine force is the right option for countries
with large oceans to patrol and though this issue has never
been debated in
India it must
be stated that nuclear submarines are very expensive
technological toys. The cost of buying or building nuclear
submarines is approximately 50 to 75% higher per unit than
diesel-electric. Nuke boats cruise three times faster, have a
greater sustained speed underwater and an unlimited range. For
this reason a larger number of diesel units are required for
the same duty. Higher speeds by diesel propelled boats for
short periods deplete their underwater batteries in a few
hours and without resorting to recharge they then become
incapable to the point of helplessness. INS Hangor under then
Cdr Tasneem of Pakiastan suffered this fate in 1971 after
attacking INS Kuthar which his torpedoes missed but sank INS
Khukri. However the Captain made an ingenious get away by
daring to navigate in shallow waters. Nuclear submarines
cannot do that.
Diesel submarines are warships of position whereas nuclear
submarines are vehicles of maneuver. Diesels are suited for
small shallow seas with straits to block (hence Singapore has
opted for submarines) like the Baltic, but when rapid
movements over long ocean distances are required, nuclear
propulsion is the desired choice and India can afford it since
even our cricket players earn a few million dollars a year.
A conventional boat needs to be in the vicinity of its
target. A nuclear boat can be dispatched to intercept or can
track and attack when ordered. The sinking of the General
Belgrano in the
Falklands is
the most recent example of the capability. HMAS CONQUEROR was
dispatched at full speed for 8000 miles, submerged all the way
and intercepted the Argentinean’s cruiser and bottled up the
whole Argentinean fleet. No conventional submarine could have
achieved this. Unlike the diesel electric boats, which have to
surface to recharge batteries about 20 percent of their time
at sea, the nuclear submarine does not have to come up and
effectively broadcast its position with noisy engines
The diesel–electric submarine can be a useful weapon provided
it can get to the right place at the right time. Conversely a
nuclear powered boat, which can stay submerged indefinitely
and run at high speeds indefinitely, has enormous flexibility.
A nuclear powered boat running silent, fast and deep can be
switched very quickly from, for example, a wartime role of
barrier patrols against hostile submarines in a specific area,
to convoy escort across an ocean.
In its frequent surfacing, the diesel-electric is highly
vulnerable to visual, acoustic and radar detection and thus
open to attack by other submarines, aircraft and surface
ships. The nuclear boat’s reactor produces much more
electrical power than diesel electric submarines and makes it
possible to operate much higher powered sonar detection
systems, provide more oxygen re-generation and unlimited water
supply. The mere threat of a nuclear powered submarine in an
area inhibits an opponent and acts as a powerful deterrent.
Rigorous safety standards followed by western navies in
building and operating nuclear submarines have insured nuclear
accident free operations. The US Navy for example has used
nuclear propulsion for more than 40 years and accumulated more
than 3600 reactor years of operations. |