Source : INDARUS.IN
India will soon receive the Russian-made Nerpa nuclear submarine armed with missiles and torpedoes (the Project 971I “Schuka-B”) under a ten-year leasing agreement. The Indian Navy has renamed the submarine Chakra. Testing of the submarine was completed in late August.
The submarine will be leased under a secret agreement for $650-700 million. An Indian boat crew is currentlypracticing different missions in the Sea of Japan, accompanied by Russian instructors.
Before it goes into commission in the Indian Navy in late 2011, the submarine will arrive at a special SSBN base currently under construction in Rambilli on India’s east coast.
Once the Chakra is commissioned, India will become the sixth country in the world to own a nuclear submarine, after China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US.
While the Indian Navy has refused to comment on its nuclear submarine program, news reports from Moscow have corroborated the program’s timeline.
The Chakra will serve as a training platform for the INS Arihant, the first Indian designed and built SSBN, which is due to begin patrolling the seas with a full set of long-range weapons at the end of 2012. The Indian Navy plans to build between three and five SSBNs.
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