Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines provide India’s third leg of nuclear triad: Navy Chief

Indian Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi on Wednesday said that nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) provide the third leg of the nuclear triad. He added that the next SSBN will be commissioned in the “coming months”.

“As far as the nuclear weapons are concerned, our stated policy is of no first use. And therefore the government had decided about the nuclear triad. The SSBNs provide that option for the third leg of the nuclear triad, which some people feel is the most reliable because it remains underwater and therefore not likely to be detected easily,” Tripathi told ANI on the occasion of Indian Navy Day.

“We have obviously commissioned the second ship in August, and it is carrying out various trials, and then we’ll do whatever she’s supposed to do. And similarly, next one, in the coming months and years, it will be a part of our navy and provide the nation with an alternative for deterrence as also the second strike capability as part of a nuclear triad,” he added.

India has two nuclear submarines including the INS Arihant and INS Arighaat which was inducted in August into the Navy.

The Navy Chief said that the force is looking to have a suitable mix of manned and unmanned systems.

“As we move ahead, we look at a force, which is more powerful, more lethal with the use of technology which is galloping by the day. We want to have a suitable mix of manned and unmanned systems for obvious reasons because unmanned systems in most times are much cheaper. A human is not there in the platform itself, and that reduces the risk of loss of human life. But humans cannot be taken out of the loop because the decision-making at critical junctures is done by humans. So we are looking at the training and all of the aspects of operating the unmanned systems in times of combat,” he said.

“If you look at the next 10 years or so, we intend that our average tonnage of surface ships should go up to 6000 tonnes. And I’m talking of the fleet ships. Also, the age of these ships will reduce, and only 20% of the ships will be more than 15 years old, as against 55% of ships, which today, are more than 15 years old… That is desirable if you want to remain strong. And obviously, it is not only the platform but what goes into that platform and that is a continuous process because we want to get the best out of what is available. And we already committed that we want to become a totally Atmanirbhar force by 2047,” he added.

The Navy Chief said that the nation has a maritime capability perspective plan.

“I think we already got the shape and size of where we want to reach. We have got the maritime capability perspective plan. We have a long-term, integrated perspective plan for the three services, which defines where we want to be in the next 10 to 15 years. As we speak today, in all the domains of naval operations whether it is surface, air, subsurface and the two new domains of cyber warfare and space warfare, we are moving very rapidly to have a navy, which the nation requires for safeguarding its maritime national interests. And we are committed to doing that anytime, anywhere, anyhow,” he said.

He said that as part of India’s 30-year submarine building plan of 1999, wherein the government had approved that you could have 12 submarines which will be built in India with foreign assistance. And then the next 12 submarines will be built purely by Indian design by Indian shipyards, he said.

“So, the first tranche of the first batch is the P-75, five have been constructed, and delivered to the Indian Navy for Commission. The sixth one is around the corner. Within a month or two, it will be inducted into the Navy. The second tranche of that is Project 75 India, which is a very advanced stage of the acquisition process. And it is only a matter of time before the government takes a call. And then we’ll sign the contract with whichever shipyard is chosen. This is under the strategic partnership model,” he said

“In 2015, the government amended this, that instead of having all the 12 conventional submarines, six submarines were made to be nuclear-powered… Similarly, for the SSNs two have been granted approval. We have started work on that. We have spoken to all the stakeholders… We have a plan of faction as to how to move so that the first SSN is inducted into our nation and in the Navy, roughly by 2036-37. And they would certainly provide a huge deterrence potential to anybody who is operating in the Indian Ocean region. But more importantly, it will be a huge boost also for the Atmanirbharta, the MSMEs, the ancillary industries, which will obviously generate a lot of employment,” he added.