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INDIA'S NUCLEAR PROPULSION TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR--- DRDO'S ATV CLASSIFIED SUBMARINE PROJECT
IDU presents China's Nuclear Subs and Re Produces Part 1 of 3 on ATV and Akula from TEMPUR with permission of author defence analyst Prasun Sengupta.
It is time to separate the wheat from the chaff. For at least a decade speculation has been rife on two major issues: India's quest for acquiring a credible sea-based element of the country's nuclear weapons triad; and the Indian Navy's (IN) projected plans for acquiring on lease SSGNs of Russian origin. More often than not, it is the Russian mass media that has been more accurate in reporting key developments on these two issues, while its Indian counterpart has been engaging in speculations ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. What follows below is a detailed analysis and factual reportage of India's continuing quest for acquiring a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for both conventional strategic sea denial and strategic nuclear deterrence.
What is the ATV?
ATV stands for Advanced Technology Vessel (carrying the hull codename P-4102), which will be a technology demonstrator displacing less than 4,500 tonnes dived and will NOT be an operational nuclear-powered submarine. It will be used for validating the ATV's 90mW nuclear-powered propulsion system, the vessel's structural integrity as well as the on-board mission sensors and platform management system. The unarmed ATV will thus be used for validating various technologies and performance parameters for two types of fourth-generation operational nuclear-powered submarines that are being proposed for series production the following decade: three attack submarines (SSGN) each displacing 7,500 tonnes when dived, and a single SSBN displacing some 12,000 tonnes dived. The ATV, to be built with NQ-1, a derivative of HY-80 grade steel, will be divided into an engine compartment, reactor compartment (containing a 90mW pressurised water-cooled water-moderated reactor [PWR] using uranium-aluminum dispersed fuel (cermets) housed within zirconium cladding, a forward compartment housing the vessel's combat management system (CMS), integrated platform management system (IPMS), depth-finding echosounder, a hull-mounted sonar suite, and a torpedo compartment containing three 21-inch (533.4mm) torpedo launch tubes designed and built by Larsen & Toubro (L & T) that will be able to launch heavyweight anti-submarine and anti-ship torpedoes (the TEST-71ME and TEST-71ME-NK ( see Pictures) models built by Russia's DVIGATEL FSUE and Region State Research & Production Enterprise). The ATV's hull will also feature twin flank-array sonars for being used as a torpedo approach warning system, and a stern-mounted distinctive 'bulb' on top of the rudder housing an ultra-low frequency thin-line towed active/passive sonar array built by state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), broadband expendable anti-torpedo countermeasures developed by RAFAEL of Israel, as well as a single universal vertical launcher capable of launching supersonic multi-role cruise missiles like the BrahMos and Sagarika. The related Launch Preparation System and Centralised Real-Time Fire-Control System has been built by BEL as has the CCS Mk3 composite communications system and ATM-based broadband integrated data network. The ATV will feature double-hull construction, dramatically increasing the reserve buoyancy by as much as three times over that of a single-hull vessel.
Ballast tanks and other gear will be located between the inner and outer hulls, and limber holes will be provided for the free-flooding sections between the hulls. The ATV's pressure hull will have four major compartments and the standoff distance between the outer and inner hulls will be considerable, reducing the possibility of inner hull damage. The engine room will feature sound-isolation couplings to prevent transmission of vibrations to the ocean from major fresh-water circulating pumps in the steam cycle. The CMS (comprising a commander's multi-function console, manoeuvring control console, three weapons management consoles and one EW console), and IPMS (comprising three consoles) are now being developed by TATA Power's Strategic Systems Division in collaboration with BAE Systems. The retractable masts viewed from bow to stern will include an optronic periscope (likely to come from THALES Underwater Systems), along with one I-band surface search/navigation radar and one low-level air defence radar, VLF/VHF/EHF/SHF radio and UHF SATCOM antennae, and one integrated electronic warfare suite [4CH(V)2 Timnex II], all to be supplied by Elbit Systems. The mast fairwater section of the ATV will house a magnetic compass sensor, combined SATCOMS/radio antenna, air supplier for diesel engines, search radar antenna mounted on a non-hull-penetrating optronic search mast, attack periscope housing optronic sensors, plane position indicator, rudder steering unit, course repeater, distance measuring sonar, and a sail plane drive. The ATV will have a double layer silencing system for the power train. Main propulsion machinery will comprise a high-density PWR reactor core rated at 90mW, and a steam turbine developing 35mW. Two auxiliary diesel engines will provide emergency power.
The nuclear propulsion system will drive a seven-bladed fixed-pitch propeller with cruciform vortex dissipaters, and provide a maximum submerged speed of 33 Knots and a surface speed of 15 Knots. A reserve propeller system, powered by two motors rated at 370kW, will provide a speed of 4 Knots. The ATV's pressure hull will be rated for diving down to a hull-crush depth of 600 metres. The vessel will carry sufficient supplies for an endurance of 80 days and will be operated by a crew complement of 50. The outer hull will be fitted with anechoic and vibration damping coatings to reduce the vessel's acoustic signature to no more than 110 decibels. The indigenously developed rubber-based anechoic tile will contain thousands of tiny voids, and their function will be two-fold: to absorb the sonar sound waves of active sonar, and reduce and distort the return signal thereby reducing its effective range. The tiles, each of which are 4 inches (100mm) thick, will also attenuate the sounds emitted from the vessel, typically its engines, to reduce the range at which it can be detected by passive sonar. The ATV's scheduled operational cycle will be divided into 2.5 years, five years and 7.5 years. To mount a patrol, the ATV will require 15 days to be prepared for a 60-day endurance cruise, following which 10 days will be required for replenishing provisions and changing the crew complement. The period between two cruises will be 25 days, while dock repairs and storage battery replacements will be conducted within a 20-day period. Yard repair for the ATV will be conducted over a 12-month period.
How was the ATV project born?
Informed analysis of India's defence priorities in the Indian Ocean points to a long-term strategy of meeting a potential Chinese incursion (with its SSNs) into the Indian Ocean. This is to be achieved by attaining a sea-denial capability in the Indian Ocean. Work on the ATV formally began in 1983 when the then Defence Minister R Venkataraman and Dr Raja Ramanna, the then Director of the Dept of Atomic Energy's (DAE) state-owned Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), selected Vice Admiral M K Roy, his flat-mate in London during their college days, to head the project in Delhi. By early 1984, in order to get hands-on experience in nuclear-powered submarine operations, negotiations had commenced with Moscow for the leasing of at least two SSGNs and the training of Indian Navy (IN) crews in the Soviet Union. Vice Admiral R H Tahiliani, the then Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, took a leading role in talks in Moscow in September 1984. The formal agreement to lease a SSGN from the Soviet Union was signed in 1985, with the delivery of a Project 670A Skat (Charlie I-class) SSGN, INS Chakra (K-43) taking place in Vladivostok on January 4, 1988. Built by the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard in Gorky, the K-43 displaced 3,574 tonnes surfaced and 4,980 tonnes dived. It was powered by one VM-4 PWR rated at 89mWe, along with one OK-350 steam turbine rated at 18,800shp. The SSGN's maximum speed was 12 Knots surfaced and 26 Knots submerged. However, the price that India paid to lease this SSGN for a contracted three-year period was considerable (estimated at Rs1.2 billion per annum), yet IN personnel were denied access to the SSGN's reactor compartment and weapons bay. The SSGN was returned back to the USSR in January 1991, but not before conducting the IN's first ever underwater firing (at a depth of 27.5 metres) of a P-70/4K66 Amethyst anti-ship missile in the Bay of Bengal in 1990.
http://http://www.indiadefenceupdate.com/news54.html
IDU Analysis IDU Update (November 2007)
IDU has been coming across sketchy details of China's Nuclear Submarines 093 SHANG Class and its latest 094 capable of firing the JL 1/2 the equivalent of DF 31/32 land based on the net, conferences and in the media. Posted below are two very interesting articles with two others on ATV which has been published in Malaysia in a bilingual popular defence magazine called TEMPUR printed in Kuala Lumpur by Prasun K Sengupta , and by Hindu and by Janes. Chinese have displayed models of their 093 Shang and 094 jin Nuke boats . See Photos.
From China
A scale model and photographs of China's new Shang-class (Type 093)submarine have been seen in public for the first time at an exhibition in Beijing. The outward appearance of the 6,000-ton nuclear-powered boats - two have been launched so far, in 2002 and 2003 - has until now been a closely guarded secret within the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). But in late July the model and hazy images went on display in an exhibition marking the armed forces' 80th anniversary, at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. Then in August the Beijing-based Modern Ships magazine published the first clear photograph of one of the submarines. (See Photos)
Prasun has referred to ATV in some detail and an Akula acquisition also fro India and he has speculated and must be seen by professionals and IDU posts this in national interest and now with RTI in India the net is open so IDU puts up extracts and is not at all responsible for its facts, but since it has been read widely in South East Asia and all items may not be factual, holds no responsibility, and reiterates this, as Government of India is aware articles on ATV and acquisition of an Akula submarine do appear in the media in India and abroad and there has never been any confirmation or denial by MOD on these classified projects. ATV first came in to lime light when CNS Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat mentioned this project and was sacked and that was in December 1998. Since then much water has flown down the Ganges and clogged Jamuna near Delhi and many articles have appeared in the media but IDU feels some is speculation on the part of writers and some is general details of any nuclear submarine.
TEMPUR magazine from which this article has been extracted with personal permission of Prasun Sengupta was conceived as a monthly bi-lingual magazine specializing on the reportage of defense and security affairs of consequence to the Asia-Pacific region, and the ASEAN nation-states of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, in particular. Therefore, publishing such a magazine with both Malay (the national language of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and widely understood in Singapore) and English sections simply translates into a wider audience. The Editorial Team of TEMPUR comprises highly experienced and respected journalists nurturing close links with both of serving as well as retired decision-makers and planners, civilian and military. For two consecutive years (2003&2004) TEMPUR begged the 'best defense journalists' award' during the annual AMP (Defense Media).
FROM THE HINDU
Nuclear-powered submarine to cruise the seas in five years
Land based reactor fully operational since December 2004
The fuel for the reactor is highly enriched uranium
It is a top secret project having facilities at Kalpakkam
CHENNAI: India's efforts to build a nuclear-powered submarine crossed a major milestone when the project's land-based reactor became fully operational in December 2004 at Kalpakkam, near here. The reactor reached criticality by October last year.
The design of the submarine is ready, and the project, called Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), has the involvement of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Navy.
The miniature reactor's capability is about 100 MWe and the fuel is highly enriched uranium, supplied by the Rare Materials Project (RMP) at Ratnahalli, near Mysore.
The delay in the reactor reaching criticality was because of the time taken to produce enough quantity of uranium by the RMP.
Many components of the reactor, such as the steam-generator and the control rod mechanism, were fabricated in the country. Efforts now will be on getting a submarine-based reactor ready.
"Now that the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has succeeded in operating the land-based reactor at Kalpakkam, the DRDO and naval designers have to integrate the reactor into the submarine," a source said.
AKULA FROM Home | India Defence ON THE INTERNET
Ahead of Prime Ministers upcoming visit to Moscow from November 10th, India and Russia are widely expected to sign on the Indian Navy Akula Submarine Lease Deal.
Indian Navy is all set to acquire the nuclear powered advanced submarines for a period of up to seven years. This acquisition would help the Navy prepare for the induction of the ATV, India's indigenous nuclear-powered vessel-in-the-making which goes for sea trials in 2009. Strategic submarines are the key to India's quest for a credible nuclear deterrence.
For Russia, raising the stakes, it hopes, will increase Indian dependence as Moscow seeks to defend its position as No. 1 defense supplier to New Delhi, however Russia's importance as a defense partner to New Delhi declines following India's vastly improving internal defense capabilities compounded with close relations and improving with Israel, France and the United States.
Project 971 (Shchuka-B, 'Shchuka' meaning pike, NATO reporting name "Akula"), is a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) first deployed by the Soviet Navy in 1986. The class is sometimes erroneously called the "Bars" class, after one of its members. Note that Akula ("shark") is the Soviet designation of the ballistic missile submarine class designated by NATO as the Typhoon class submarine. They are sometimes bitterly called "the Walker class," referring to John Anthony Walker, whose espionage data related to sonar detection was used to improve this submarine.
There are three sub-classes or flights of Shchuka, consisting of the original seven "Akula I" submarines built between 1982 and 1986, five "Improved Akula" submarines built between 1986 and 1991, and four "Akula II" submarines built from 1991. This information is disputed, however, as the distinction between the Improved Akula and the Akula II class is debated by authoritative sources.
Akula incorporates a double hull system that increases the strength reserve and is able to dive deeper than any other modern SSN. It is the quietest Russian nuclear attack submarine; the noise radiated by the Akula-II class is comparable to that of early versions of the American Los Angeles class.
However, in February 2002 TOI reported that an Indian submarine crew has been undergoing training in Russia for about a year, and that its activities included sorties aboard a Project 971-class attack submarine.
IDU presents China's Nuclear Subs and Re Produces Part 1 of 3 on ATV and Akula from TEMPUR with permission of author defence analyst Prasun Sengupta.
It is time to separate the wheat from the chaff. For at least a decade speculation has been rife on two major issues: India's quest for acquiring a credible sea-based element of the country's nuclear weapons triad; and the Indian Navy's (IN) projected plans for acquiring on lease SSGNs of Russian origin. More often than not, it is the Russian mass media that has been more accurate in reporting key developments on these two issues, while its Indian counterpart has been engaging in speculations ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. What follows below is a detailed analysis and factual reportage of India's continuing quest for acquiring a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for both conventional strategic sea denial and strategic nuclear deterrence.
What is the ATV?
ATV stands for Advanced Technology Vessel (carrying the hull codename P-4102), which will be a technology demonstrator displacing less than 4,500 tonnes dived and will NOT be an operational nuclear-powered submarine. It will be used for validating the ATV's 90mW nuclear-powered propulsion system, the vessel's structural integrity as well as the on-board mission sensors and platform management system. The unarmed ATV will thus be used for validating various technologies and performance parameters for two types of fourth-generation operational nuclear-powered submarines that are being proposed for series production the following decade: three attack submarines (SSGN) each displacing 7,500 tonnes when dived, and a single SSBN displacing some 12,000 tonnes dived. The ATV, to be built with NQ-1, a derivative of HY-80 grade steel, will be divided into an engine compartment, reactor compartment (containing a 90mW pressurised water-cooled water-moderated reactor [PWR] using uranium-aluminum dispersed fuel (cermets) housed within zirconium cladding, a forward compartment housing the vessel's combat management system (CMS), integrated platform management system (IPMS), depth-finding echosounder, a hull-mounted sonar suite, and a torpedo compartment containing three 21-inch (533.4mm) torpedo launch tubes designed and built by Larsen & Toubro (L & T) that will be able to launch heavyweight anti-submarine and anti-ship torpedoes (the TEST-71ME and TEST-71ME-NK ( see Pictures) models built by Russia's DVIGATEL FSUE and Region State Research & Production Enterprise). The ATV's hull will also feature twin flank-array sonars for being used as a torpedo approach warning system, and a stern-mounted distinctive 'bulb' on top of the rudder housing an ultra-low frequency thin-line towed active/passive sonar array built by state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), broadband expendable anti-torpedo countermeasures developed by RAFAEL of Israel, as well as a single universal vertical launcher capable of launching supersonic multi-role cruise missiles like the BrahMos and Sagarika. The related Launch Preparation System and Centralised Real-Time Fire-Control System has been built by BEL as has the CCS Mk3 composite communications system and ATM-based broadband integrated data network. The ATV will feature double-hull construction, dramatically increasing the reserve buoyancy by as much as three times over that of a single-hull vessel.
Ballast tanks and other gear will be located between the inner and outer hulls, and limber holes will be provided for the free-flooding sections between the hulls. The ATV's pressure hull will have four major compartments and the standoff distance between the outer and inner hulls will be considerable, reducing the possibility of inner hull damage. The engine room will feature sound-isolation couplings to prevent transmission of vibrations to the ocean from major fresh-water circulating pumps in the steam cycle. The CMS (comprising a commander's multi-function console, manoeuvring control console, three weapons management consoles and one EW console), and IPMS (comprising three consoles) are now being developed by TATA Power's Strategic Systems Division in collaboration with BAE Systems. The retractable masts viewed from bow to stern will include an optronic periscope (likely to come from THALES Underwater Systems), along with one I-band surface search/navigation radar and one low-level air defence radar, VLF/VHF/EHF/SHF radio and UHF SATCOM antennae, and one integrated electronic warfare suite [4CH(V)2 Timnex II], all to be supplied by Elbit Systems. The mast fairwater section of the ATV will house a magnetic compass sensor, combined SATCOMS/radio antenna, air supplier for diesel engines, search radar antenna mounted on a non-hull-penetrating optronic search mast, attack periscope housing optronic sensors, plane position indicator, rudder steering unit, course repeater, distance measuring sonar, and a sail plane drive. The ATV will have a double layer silencing system for the power train. Main propulsion machinery will comprise a high-density PWR reactor core rated at 90mW, and a steam turbine developing 35mW. Two auxiliary diesel engines will provide emergency power.
The nuclear propulsion system will drive a seven-bladed fixed-pitch propeller with cruciform vortex dissipaters, and provide a maximum submerged speed of 33 Knots and a surface speed of 15 Knots. A reserve propeller system, powered by two motors rated at 370kW, will provide a speed of 4 Knots. The ATV's pressure hull will be rated for diving down to a hull-crush depth of 600 metres. The vessel will carry sufficient supplies for an endurance of 80 days and will be operated by a crew complement of 50. The outer hull will be fitted with anechoic and vibration damping coatings to reduce the vessel's acoustic signature to no more than 110 decibels. The indigenously developed rubber-based anechoic tile will contain thousands of tiny voids, and their function will be two-fold: to absorb the sonar sound waves of active sonar, and reduce and distort the return signal thereby reducing its effective range. The tiles, each of which are 4 inches (100mm) thick, will also attenuate the sounds emitted from the vessel, typically its engines, to reduce the range at which it can be detected by passive sonar. The ATV's scheduled operational cycle will be divided into 2.5 years, five years and 7.5 years. To mount a patrol, the ATV will require 15 days to be prepared for a 60-day endurance cruise, following which 10 days will be required for replenishing provisions and changing the crew complement. The period between two cruises will be 25 days, while dock repairs and storage battery replacements will be conducted within a 20-day period. Yard repair for the ATV will be conducted over a 12-month period.
How was the ATV project born?
Informed analysis of India's defence priorities in the Indian Ocean points to a long-term strategy of meeting a potential Chinese incursion (with its SSNs) into the Indian Ocean. This is to be achieved by attaining a sea-denial capability in the Indian Ocean. Work on the ATV formally began in 1983 when the then Defence Minister R Venkataraman and Dr Raja Ramanna, the then Director of the Dept of Atomic Energy's (DAE) state-owned Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), selected Vice Admiral M K Roy, his flat-mate in London during their college days, to head the project in Delhi. By early 1984, in order to get hands-on experience in nuclear-powered submarine operations, negotiations had commenced with Moscow for the leasing of at least two SSGNs and the training of Indian Navy (IN) crews in the Soviet Union. Vice Admiral R H Tahiliani, the then Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, took a leading role in talks in Moscow in September 1984. The formal agreement to lease a SSGN from the Soviet Union was signed in 1985, with the delivery of a Project 670A Skat (Charlie I-class) SSGN, INS Chakra (K-43) taking place in Vladivostok on January 4, 1988. Built by the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard in Gorky, the K-43 displaced 3,574 tonnes surfaced and 4,980 tonnes dived. It was powered by one VM-4 PWR rated at 89mWe, along with one OK-350 steam turbine rated at 18,800shp. The SSGN's maximum speed was 12 Knots surfaced and 26 Knots submerged. However, the price that India paid to lease this SSGN for a contracted three-year period was considerable (estimated at Rs1.2 billion per annum), yet IN personnel were denied access to the SSGN's reactor compartment and weapons bay. The SSGN was returned back to the USSR in January 1991, but not before conducting the IN's first ever underwater firing (at a depth of 27.5 metres) of a P-70/4K66 Amethyst anti-ship missile in the Bay of Bengal in 1990.
http://http://www.indiadefenceupdate.com/news54.html
IDU Analysis IDU Update (November 2007)
IDU has been coming across sketchy details of China's Nuclear Submarines 093 SHANG Class and its latest 094 capable of firing the JL 1/2 the equivalent of DF 31/32 land based on the net, conferences and in the media. Posted below are two very interesting articles with two others on ATV which has been published in Malaysia in a bilingual popular defence magazine called TEMPUR printed in Kuala Lumpur by Prasun K Sengupta , and by Hindu and by Janes. Chinese have displayed models of their 093 Shang and 094 jin Nuke boats . See Photos.
From China
A scale model and photographs of China's new Shang-class (Type 093)submarine have been seen in public for the first time at an exhibition in Beijing. The outward appearance of the 6,000-ton nuclear-powered boats - two have been launched so far, in 2002 and 2003 - has until now been a closely guarded secret within the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). But in late July the model and hazy images went on display in an exhibition marking the armed forces' 80th anniversary, at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. Then in August the Beijing-based Modern Ships magazine published the first clear photograph of one of the submarines. (See Photos)
Prasun has referred to ATV in some detail and an Akula acquisition also fro India and he has speculated and must be seen by professionals and IDU posts this in national interest and now with RTI in India the net is open so IDU puts up extracts and is not at all responsible for its facts, but since it has been read widely in South East Asia and all items may not be factual, holds no responsibility, and reiterates this, as Government of India is aware articles on ATV and acquisition of an Akula submarine do appear in the media in India and abroad and there has never been any confirmation or denial by MOD on these classified projects. ATV first came in to lime light when CNS Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat mentioned this project and was sacked and that was in December 1998. Since then much water has flown down the Ganges and clogged Jamuna near Delhi and many articles have appeared in the media but IDU feels some is speculation on the part of writers and some is general details of any nuclear submarine.
TEMPUR magazine from which this article has been extracted with personal permission of Prasun Sengupta was conceived as a monthly bi-lingual magazine specializing on the reportage of defense and security affairs of consequence to the Asia-Pacific region, and the ASEAN nation-states of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, in particular. Therefore, publishing such a magazine with both Malay (the national language of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and widely understood in Singapore) and English sections simply translates into a wider audience. The Editorial Team of TEMPUR comprises highly experienced and respected journalists nurturing close links with both of serving as well as retired decision-makers and planners, civilian and military. For two consecutive years (2003&2004) TEMPUR begged the 'best defense journalists' award' during the annual AMP (Defense Media).
FROM THE HINDU
Nuclear-powered submarine to cruise the seas in five years
Land based reactor fully operational since December 2004
The fuel for the reactor is highly enriched uranium
It is a top secret project having facilities at Kalpakkam
CHENNAI: India's efforts to build a nuclear-powered submarine crossed a major milestone when the project's land-based reactor became fully operational in December 2004 at Kalpakkam, near here. The reactor reached criticality by October last year.
The design of the submarine is ready, and the project, called Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), has the involvement of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Navy.
The miniature reactor's capability is about 100 MWe and the fuel is highly enriched uranium, supplied by the Rare Materials Project (RMP) at Ratnahalli, near Mysore.
The delay in the reactor reaching criticality was because of the time taken to produce enough quantity of uranium by the RMP.
Many components of the reactor, such as the steam-generator and the control rod mechanism, were fabricated in the country. Efforts now will be on getting a submarine-based reactor ready.
"Now that the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has succeeded in operating the land-based reactor at Kalpakkam, the DRDO and naval designers have to integrate the reactor into the submarine," a source said.
AKULA FROM Home | India Defence ON THE INTERNET
Ahead of Prime Ministers upcoming visit to Moscow from November 10th, India and Russia are widely expected to sign on the Indian Navy Akula Submarine Lease Deal.
Indian Navy is all set to acquire the nuclear powered advanced submarines for a period of up to seven years. This acquisition would help the Navy prepare for the induction of the ATV, India's indigenous nuclear-powered vessel-in-the-making which goes for sea trials in 2009. Strategic submarines are the key to India's quest for a credible nuclear deterrence.
For Russia, raising the stakes, it hopes, will increase Indian dependence as Moscow seeks to defend its position as No. 1 defense supplier to New Delhi, however Russia's importance as a defense partner to New Delhi declines following India's vastly improving internal defense capabilities compounded with close relations and improving with Israel, France and the United States.
Project 971 (Shchuka-B, 'Shchuka' meaning pike, NATO reporting name "Akula"), is a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) first deployed by the Soviet Navy in 1986. The class is sometimes erroneously called the "Bars" class, after one of its members. Note that Akula ("shark") is the Soviet designation of the ballistic missile submarine class designated by NATO as the Typhoon class submarine. They are sometimes bitterly called "the Walker class," referring to John Anthony Walker, whose espionage data related to sonar detection was used to improve this submarine.
There are three sub-classes or flights of Shchuka, consisting of the original seven "Akula I" submarines built between 1982 and 1986, five "Improved Akula" submarines built between 1986 and 1991, and four "Akula II" submarines built from 1991. This information is disputed, however, as the distinction between the Improved Akula and the Akula II class is debated by authoritative sources.
Akula incorporates a double hull system that increases the strength reserve and is able to dive deeper than any other modern SSN. It is the quietest Russian nuclear attack submarine; the noise radiated by the Akula-II class is comparable to that of early versions of the American Los Angeles class.
However, in February 2002 TOI reported that an Indian submarine crew has been undergoing training in Russia for about a year, and that its activities included sorties aboard a Project 971-class attack submarine.
