We Got A Submarine !!

Finally India got a Submarine, great news!! But wait a minute....we already have submarines and they have been with the navy since the early sixties. So, why are we so excited about the addition of another submarine? Well, yes there is reason to be excited, all the submarines that we got till now are not true submarines, they can invariably be called 'submersible ships'.

Conventional diesel powered submarines constituted all of our submarine force till now and will stay so for the next 15 years at the least. Diesel submarines don't run their engines all the time, their diesel engines are run when the submarine surfaces, the power from which is used to charge the batteries. These powered batteries are then used to run the submarine when it gets under the sea. Surfacing is the biggest weakness of conventional submarines, they become vulnerable to attack and this is the very reason they cannot form part of a defensive response against enemy nuclear attacks.

I will make an attempt at explaining why nuclear submarines are a deterring factor against nuclear attacks.........It had been the strategy of the Cold War powers to send their nuclear submarines to ocean depths when the war begins or position them near enemy territory and launch an attack that cannot be tracked by satellites or ships or aircraft. In this aspect the Soviets reached the farthest, they built the world's most silent and largest submarines ever built, the Akula class. Their size is something that no one else can still match even today!! Soviets built them so large for two reasons viz., carrying more fire power and staying submerged for longer durations before a surprise attack can be launched. It is said that Soviets built Akulas to send them to ocean depths whenever war started and to keep them there for an estimated 100 - 150 days and then bring them up to rain fire, when all means to launch an attack had been exhausted during attacks and counter attacks from NATO, a frightening prospect indeed !! The submarines were so large because they even have swimming pools and other things to keep the crew sane, virtually unknown on all other submarines. So Soviets definitely scored an edge over Americans with Akula submarines, Americans came to know about their existence very late, we never know what answer they had against Akula, a true master weapon.

Now, since India is surrounded by two nuclear weapon states, and since we declared that we would not use nuclear weapons first against any country, we do need to have a credible way to launch a counter attack in the event that our launch capabilities are taken out in a first attack by enemies. A nuclear submarine is the answer to this need, navy could send the submarine to an undisclosed location and launch attack in secret from where it cannot be taken out. But it is to be noted that nuclear submarines proved to be deadly adventures for both the Soviets and Americans. The perils of a nuclear submarine that isn't properly built are portrayed best in the movie "K-19 The Widow Maker", which is the tragic story of one of Soviet Union's first nuclear submarines that went horribly wrong. Infact this movie is one of my favorites for an inspiring portrayal of patriotism by the submarine's crew, which is all real.

Hope that India doesn't have to taste this bitterness with Arihant, our first nuclear submarine. The fact that it took 3 decades to launch our first submarine is an indicator that a careful effort went into building the submarine and accidents are kept at bay. God be with the crew of Arihant while it undergoes sea trials.

If all goes well we will send out a message to the World that India can no longer be messed with, an assuring prospect for Indians but on another note also brings me sadness that one more country has brought the world closer to apocalypse, a country that has been the most peaceful of nations, undeniably in entire human history, but on another note we are not responsible for it, it is other irresponsible countries that pushed India here!!