The Defence Minister, Mr A.K. Antony, inducted the INS Chakra, a nuclear submarine, into the Navy at the Eastern Naval Command here on Wednesday.
India thus joined an elite group of six nations operating nuclear submarines in the world.
It was commissioned on January 23 at Vladivastok in Russia. The Navy will also use Chakra to train its men in operating nuclear submarines. The Navy commenced operating submarines in 1967 and it graduated to nuclear submarines, when it leased a Soviet Charlie class submarine, also named INS Chakra, between 1988 and 1991.
INS Chakra is commanded by Captain P. Ashokan who has operational experience of over 25 years. The submarine has a displacement of over 12,000 tonnes and is powered by a 190-MW reactor for a maximum submerged speed of 30 knots (55 kmph), operating at depths of over 500 m. The submarine – equipped with an array of tactical missiles, cutting edge fire control systems, sonars, contemporary optronic periscopes, communication and surveillance systems that give it a phenomenal operational flexibility and lethal potency – is manned by 80 crew members.
Momentous arrival
On the occasion, Mr Antony described INS Chakra as “a momentous arrival which is a result of Indo-Russian cooperation.” He said the induction of the nuclear submarine or Vikramaditya, the aircraft carrier to be delivered by Russia in December, was not aimed at any country but at only strengthening the national and maritime security.
The Russian Ambassador to India, Mr Alexander M. Kadakin, said it was a milestone not only for India but marked a strong relationship with Russia. Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Verma, introduced the three commanding officers of the erstwhile INS Chakra – Vice-Admiral, R.N Ganesh, Rear-Admirals S.C Anand and R.K Sharma.
The Union Minister of State for Defence, Mr M.M Pallamraju; the Union Minister of State for Human Resources, Mr D. Purandeswari, Scientific Adviser Saraswath, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command Vice-Admiral, Anil Chopra, and others were present. INS Chakra will operate under the Eastern Naval Command.
Later, while talking to reporters, Mr Antony said there was nothing unusual in a couple of Army units moving towards New Delhi in January and dismissed as “absolutely baseless” reports appearing in a section of the media. “We are absolutely confident of the patriotism of Indian armed forces. I am proud of the Army, Navy and Air Force and also the Coast Guard,” he asserted.
Mr Antony had one “humble request” to the media: “On issues like this affecting national security, Indian armed forces, we can't take the luxury of controversy. India is a democracy, continues to be a democracy and Indian armed forces will do anything to strengthen it.” On the letter leak controversy, he said again it was not unusual to write letters to the Defence Minister. But only this time, it was leaked unfortunately.
He said the Navy would get seven ships and that included INS Chakra and the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, which was to be delivered in December. Also, 15 fast attack craft (FAC) would be acquired. Indian Navy would get five warships every year in the coming five years and the number of FACs will go up to 80 during the period.
On the negotiation process in procuring the nuclear submarine from Russia, Mr Antony replied that any negotiations with a country or vendor was a long process and involved even amending certain procedures. “At the same time, zero tolerance of corruption is necessary. India recently blacklisted six foreign companies. Such action causes delay in work. We are warning everybody, people engaged in the process of procuring the weapons, to be transparent and not to indulge in corrupt practices,” he said.
Referring to the nuclear-powered ballistic submarine, INS Arihant, which is under construction at Visakhapatnam, the Defence Minister said it would be ready for sea trials later this year.