Nuclear Attack Submarines: India to get indigenously designed nuclear attack submarines by 2036: Navy Chief

India will get its first indigenously designed nuclear attack submarines by 2036, with a government approval for two boats indicating faith in Indian capacity to design and manufacture complex defence platforms, navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi has said.

In the first official comments on the nuclear attack submarine programme (SSNs), the navy chief said that the first is likely to be delivered by 2036 and a follow on within two years. He added that as per current plans, the navy has a requirement for six such submarines.

“It (approval) indicates the government’s faith in our capability to design these boats in house, as well as in the larger ecosystem. I have no doubt that apart from bringing combat capability, this will also galvanise the ancillary industries in the defence ecosystem,” the navy chief said, adding that he has no doubts that the timeline for induction (2036-37) will be achieved.

India already has nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines (SSBNs) under the Arihant class. The new nuclear attack submarines will be much stealthier and will be armed with conventional weapons. India will join a select club of nations including the US, Russia and China that have such capacity. The cabinet committee on security had cleared the Rs 35,000 crore acquisition in October, with a significant part of the work likely to be done by the private industry.

Unlike conventionally-powered submarines, nuclear attack boats have the ability to stay underwater indefinitely, giving the navy a unique capability to guard areas of interest and deter enemy movement. India has in the past operated nuclear attack submarines on lease from Russia.

Sources said that unlike the Arihant class of nuclear-armed submarines, the new attack boats will be fully designed in India without any foreign assistance. They added that all technologies required to construct the submarines, including a powerful miniaturised nuclear reactor, are available domestically and the new boats will have minimal foreign equipment onboard.Sharing details of other submarine modernisation programmes, the navy chief said that the process to acquire six new Air Independent Propulsion (AIP)- equipped submarines is currently on and a selection has not been made. He added that commercial proposals for the contract are yet to be opened. This programme, also called P 75I, is seeing a keen competition between an MDL-TKMS combine and an L&T-Navantia offering.The navy chief also shared that plans to acquire three additional Kalvari class submarines are in the final stages and a contract is expected to be signed with manufacturer Mazagaon Dockyard Limited within two months.