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Reports noted that India and Russia have signed the ‘final lease and training agreement’ for Nerpa K-152 (Akula-II class) nuclear submarine during PM Vladmir Putin’s recent visit to New Delhi. New Delhi will send a 50-member crew to Russia for training, following which the 12,000 tonne sub would be leased to India for 10 years. It will be re-christened INS Chakra when inducted into Indian Navy. It will however not be armed with long-range nuclear missiles as its transfer is prohibited under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Nerpa will be used to train Indian sailors given India’s own indigenous efforts to build and operate a range of nuclear submarines. The INS Arihant, the first nuclear submarine to be constructed by India, is expected to become operational in 2011-12. India is planning to “have three SSBNs (nuclear-powered submarines with long-range missiles) and six SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines) in the long-term.”1
- 1. Rajat Pandit, ‘India gets Russian N-sub for 10 years’, The Times of India, March 17, 2010 at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-gets-Russian-N-sub-for-10...