News Desk: In a significant development, India has joined the elite club of nations having nuclear submarines with the induction of the Russian made 'Nerpa' into the Navy on Wednesday.

Defence Minister AK Antony unveiled the nuclear-powered submarine Akula II class Nerpa rechristened as INS Chakra at the Ship Building Complex in Visakhapatnam.


Earlier, India had operated Charlie Class Russian nuclear submarine in 1988 for training its personnel on such submarines. With the induction of the INS Chakra and another indigenous INS Arihant, India will become strong enough in Navy guarding its vast maritime boundaries.


The Nerpa has been taken on lease from Russia for ten years and would provide Navy the opportunity to train and operate such nuclear-powered vessels.


"Our crews will get the experience of operating under water for several months at a go as unlike the conventional diesel electric submarines, which have to come to surface at regular intervals, nuclear submarines can remain under water for months," Navy officials said.


The INS Chakra was inducted into Indian Navy as India had signed a deal with Russia in 2004 worth over $900 million for leasing the submarine. The induction was delayed as Russian sailors died during trials in 2008.


The Nerpa was handed over to the India after the completion of trials in December last year.


In order to operate the submarine, a crew of over 70 officials is being trained in Russia. With a maximum speed of 30 knots, the INS Chakra can go up to 600 meters in water and has an endurance of 100 days with a crew of 73.The vessel is armed with four 533mm torpedo tubes and four 650mm torpedo tubes.


Meanwhile, Arihant is also expected to join the naval soon. DRDO chief V K Saraswat recently said that "it is in advanced stages. It will be ready for operations in next few months".


India is also working on an arsenal for Arihant, which has already carried out more than 10 test launches of the K-15 missile (also known as Sagarika) in the Bay of Bengal.

 

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