Project To Build Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarines Set To Get CCS Nod

Mar 31, 2021

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is likely to give the final nod “within a month or two” to the submarine project, which has been hanging fire for over a year now, say top government sources.

India is set to clear a mega indigenous project to build three nuclear-powered attack submarines, which will be followed by approval for another three at a later stage, as part of the long-term plan to counter China’s expanding naval footprint in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and beyond.

The Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) is likely to give the final nod “within a month or two” to the submarine project, which has been hanging fire for over a year now, say top government sources.

The overall project is for the construction of six nuclear-powered attack submarines (called SSNs in naval parlance), each weighing over 6,000- tonne, at the ship-building center (SBC) at Vizag.

But only three will be approved by the CCS in the first go, with the first indigenous SSN slated to roll out by around 2032 or so. Though each will cost around Rs 15,000 crore, the funding will not be a major problem because it will be spread over several years, said the sources.

India will also commission its second nuclear-powered submarine armed with nuclear ballistic missiles (called SSBN), INS Arighat, this year. The first, INS Arihant, became fully operational with “a successful deterrence patrol” in late-2018. This somewhat completed India’s long-awaited “nuclear triad” after the land-based Agni missiles and fighter jets like Mirage-2000s jury-rigged to deliver nuclear bombs.

Courtesy: ET