Not so long ago, military experts from many countries were literally dumbfounded - India will become the owner of its own nuclear submarine. Currently, the Indian Navy has only diesel submarines produced in Russia, Germany and France. In addition, negotiations are underway to lease the nuclear submarine Nerpa, manufactured in Russia in 2006. It was originally planned to transfer the Nerpa to India in October 2011. Later, it was decided to postpone this date to the first quarter of 2012.
According to experts, the design of the boat is based on the Soviet project 670 "Skat". When creating the Arihant, Indian engineers also used structural elements of the more modern diesel project 877 Varshavyanka. Indian sailors are familiar with both projects.
But the fact that India built its own nuclear submarine Arihant shocked specialists all over the world. Russian experts were involved in the construction, due to which the nuclear submarine is the closest in terms of its tactical and technical characteristics to the most modern boats in Russia.
Of course, such an event did not go unnoticed. For example, the Pakistani government has already expressed disapproval, saying that the appearance of such a vessel could well upset the delicate balance that has been restored between the two countries. In addition, many countries located on the coast of the Indian Ocean have expressed concern.
Well, the Arihant is indeed a submarine capable of making a difference in the region. The fact is that it is equipped with Sagarika ballistic missiles manufactured in India. The number of rockets is 12. Considering the maximum launch range of seven hundred kilometers, it becomes quite clear why the presence of one and only own nuclear submarine in the Indian fleet caused such a commotion on the part of its neighbors.
According to experts, the Arikhant crew will be trained on board the Nerpa. Moreover, Russian specialists worked on both nuclear submarines, so in many ways they are really similar.
The nuclear reactor installed on board the boat has a capacity of 80 megawatts. It is also important that the sailing autonomy of this boat is 90 days. This is very important if we take into account the not too long flight range of the Sagarika missiles, which are its main armament. Thanks to this autonomy, the boat can plunge off the coast of India, then emerge thousands of kilometers later, fire just a few shots, and dissolve again into the depths of the ocean.
The boat can reach a surface speed of up to 15 knots. There are heated debates among experts about the maximum underwater speed - from 24 to 34 knots. The length of the boat is also quite impressive - 110 meters with a crew of 95 people.
It is quite understandable that a boat with such a reserve of autonomy and such powerful armament aroused the concern of the Pakistani authorities, with which India has historically very strained relations. However, India's neighbors can console themselves with the fact that the main target for missiles is likely to be … China. Yes, that's exactly what many military experts think. Of course, being in the Indian Ocean, "Arihant" will not be able to reach China with its missiles due to the relatively short range of combat. But it is precisely due to the high autonomy of the nuclear submarine that it can quite imperceptibly make its way to the coastal waters of the PRC and inflict a truly crushing blow that can destroy many of the largest cities.
Of course, it's not a fact that relations between the two countries with the world's largest populations can escalate so much. For example, now they are in a state of mutually beneficial cooperation - the trade turnover between them is approximately $ 40 billion per year.
At the moment, the nuclear submarine "Arihant" has to go through a series of tests, and by 2012 it will become clear to what extent it meets the demands of the military. If the requests are fully satisfied, at least four more similar nuclear submarines will be built. At least, it was for this number of boats that the contract was signed.
Thus, if India does acquire a fleet of five of its own nuclear submarines, to which we should add the Nerpa nuclear submarine, which will be leased to it for 9 years, it will become a considerable force in the region. Moreover, with the non-intervention of the major powers, India will be able to completely control the sea routes in almost the entire Indian Ocean.
Until now, India had no such power at sea. Therefore, even experts do not undertake to judge what consequences this may have both for India's foreign policy specifically and for world politics in general.
