P E R S P E C T I V E

Submarines
Navy going under on subs
Indian Navy’s submarine arm is the slowest growing. The existing fleet of 15 is neither enough nor in good health. Twenty sailors have died in two accidents since last year. What is needed is decision making at the highest level and prompt redress of concerns if India has to emerge as a potent naval force.
By Ajay Banerjee
Nuclear-missile carrying lethal submarines silently sailing undersea scripted quite a few cold-war era — early 1950s to 1992 — power play between then rivals, the US and erstwhile Soviet Union. Years later, these black metal behemoths continue to be favoured platforms of naval commanders when tasked to launch attacks, deter enemies or for securing the vital sea lines of communication (SLOCs) — used by merchant ships carrying goods, crude oil, equipment and produce for trillion dollar economies like China, India and Japan, among others.

Types of submarines

Submarines
Navy going under on subs
Indian Navy’s submarine arm is the slowest growing. The existing fleet of 15 is neither enough nor in good health. Twenty sailors have died in two accidents since last year. What is needed is decision making at the highest level and prompt redress of concerns if India has to emerge as a potent naval force.
By Ajay Banerjee

Thinkstock photo, only for illustrative purpose INS Sindhurakshak on fire in Mumbai on August 13, 2013. An explosion on the submarine killed crew members. Reuters About 97 per cent of Indian trade is via sea lines of communication in the straits of Hormuz and Bab-El-Mandab and the Straits of Malacca to the east.

Nuclear-missile carrying lethal submarines silently sailing undersea scripted quite a few cold-war era — early 1950s to 1992 — power play between then rivals, the US and erstwhile Soviet Union.

Years later, these black metal behemoths continue to be favoured platforms of naval commanders when tasked to launch attacks, deter enemies or for securing the vital sea lines of communication (SLOCs) — used by merchant ships carrying goods, crude oil, equipment and produce for trillion dollar economies like China, India and Japan, among others.

Recent accidents on board Indian naval submarines have highlighted the centrality of these vessels in New Delhi’s ambitions of being a dominant player in the Indian Ocean and of possessing a ‘blue water’ Navy — a term to explain the ability to exercise sea control through wide areas away from home country. Submarine operations are dangerous and highly risky by nature. A serious accident on February 26 (the second one within eight months) led to the resignation of Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi. Twenty Navy men were killed in these two accidents on August 14, 2013, and February 26, 2014. In the 1971 war, a Pakistan naval submarine — PNS Ghazi — sank off the coast of Visakhapatnam while attempting to block what it believed was the berthing station of Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, killing 92 on board.

A serving submariner, explaining things, says: “Operating a pressurised submarine underwater with fuel, batteries, combustible gases and high-pressure hydraulic fluid on board, can never be risk free, it is only risk management.”

Submarines are coveted. Technology still does not effectively track or locate undersea vessels, more so in waters around India which have high suspended particle or salt content. “A submarine is capable of ‘pinning down’ six-seven warships of the enemy just by installing the fear of the unknown,” says a serving Naval officer. On the reverse, the ability of the submarine to remain submerged is what matters. It is here that nuclear-powered submarines, capable of remaining underwater for weeks at a stretch, make the Navy a potent force.

In the past 15 years, India’s submarine arm is the slowest growing in the otherwise fast-growing war machinery. New Delhi, if it wants to feel secure from China which is adding three submarines annually to its fleet, needs to correct the sagging timelines of its existing submarine plan announced in 1999. It had spoken of having 24 modern submarines by 2030. Half way through, not a single vessel has sailed. The first one of the lot of six Scorpene submarines is not expected before the end of 2016 and the follow-on orders are yet to be decided. The existing fleet of 15 vessels, including 14 conventional vessels, is grossly inadequate.

Russia, France, China, the UK and the US are upgrading or replacing their fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. India is building four such nuclear vessels, the first one — the 6,000 tonne INS Arihant — will be put to sea trials and the rest will follow over the next six-seven years. A US Department of Defence report ‘Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2013’ warns: “The Peoples Liberation Army (navy) places high priority on the modernisation of its submarine force. China has expanded its force.”

Mean machine

India’s fleet of 14 conventional submarines are complex pieces of engineering like all such vessels. Within the 900 cubic metre space available inside, it carries equipment, torpedoes, engines, batteries, and a maze of pipes carrying fire retardant gases, water, oxygen and hydraulic fluid. Some of the pipes are under pressure of 250 bar. In lay term, one ‘bar’ of pressure can throw water to a height of 10 metres in a domestic water pipe. Hydraulic fluids are the force behind all moving components in the vessel. “If one such pipe bursts, the person next to it dies within two seconds,” says an officer. These are specialised pipes and are checked constantly.

Each submarine has tonnes of explosives by way of detonators, boosters and hydrogen emitted from batteries. It has inflammable gases and fire retardants which are harmful if inhaled. Inside even the best of submarines, oxygen levels hover around 19 per cent, and are never the optimum 21 per cent.

A conventional submarine’s batteries weigh a few hundred kilograms each and provide silent underwater operation, leaving little acoustic trace for enemy sonars. The tricky part is when the batteries are charged using an onboard diesel generator — an act possible only when the vessel surfaces to sea-level — it is susceptible to enemy attacks. Enemy’s ship-based radars, UAVs and sonars of over-flying helicopters can pick it out.

The very process of surfacing mid-sea is risky. Commodore Satluri Govind (retd), who has commanded a kilo-class, says: “Under sea, it is like a blind man walking on the street. The only way forward is by hearing sounds which the sonar picks up and then deciphering them — it could be a warship, merchant vessel, small fishing boat or another submarine. Once the noise stops, there is no way to find out.”

Ageing fleet

The Indian fleet is ‘ageing but is not old and has surely not outlived its design life’ is an argument given by the Navy. However, it’s a fact that maintenance is taking up time on ageing vessels. As the vessel goes old, it’s difficult to maintain it and it can be out at sea only for about 15 days at a go. A newer vessel can be at sea for 25 days as the checks and routine maintenance is reduced. Apart from the need to ramp up, in 2015 India faces a situation when the first two of the Russian origin kilo class — the same as the ones involved in both accidents — would have seen an operational life of 25 years. This is a benchmark in the life of a vessel, when the strength of the hull is assessed before taking a decision on its continuance. Vice-Admiral KK Nayyar, a former Vice-Chief of the Navy who has the distinction of having commanded both western and eastern fleets, while referring to Admiral Joshi’s resignation says: “Accidents are a sad thing, but what must be corrected is how it takes years to decide on small matters of maintenance and upgrades.”

Fleet deployment

Fifteen submarines are woefully inadequate to protect and dominate a vast sea on either side of the country and also the SLOCs. Some 97 per cent of Indian trade is via SLOCs in the Indian Ocean’s ‘choke points’ — the straits of Hormuz and Bab-El-Mandab (leading into the Suez Canal) to the west and the Straits of Malacca to the east. In October 2008, the CAG in a report stated: “Submarine numbers fall far short of the requirement. India’s submarine fleet is only 67 per cent of the force levels.” Since then, two ‘fox-trot’ class vessels have been retired and one has been added.

The Navy has 14 conventional vessels, of which 10 are Russian kilo class. Each weighs 3,076 tonnes, has a crew of 70 and carries torpedoes as primary weapons. These are of varying ages between 23 years and 14 years and have been named the ‘Sindhughosh’ class. Completing the fleet of conventional submarines are the four German Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) vessels, each weighing 1,850 tonnes and having a crew of 40. These are slated for re-fitting and life extension as the German boats can go on for 40 years.

The INS Chakra, an 8,140-tonne vessel leased for 10 years from Russia in 2012 at a cost of $920 million, is nuclear powered and is the lone submarine in the SSN category, completing the fleet of 15. Since Russia, under obligations of international arms control treaties, could not transfer nuclear missiles, it has conventional missiles, torpedoes, land attack and anti-submarine missiles and mines. With INS Sindhurakshak having sunk off the coast of Mumbai, it leaves the Navy with 14 vessels. Meanwhile, INS Sindhuratna is also in the dock after a fire broke out on it, 100 miles off the coast. Under-construction submarines include the first lot of six Scorpene’s built at Mazagon Dock, Mumbai, with the collaboration of DCNS France. The other four are indigenous nuclear submarines of the Arihant class and will fall in the category of SSBNs.

Global standing

The future lies in the stealthy SSBNs and India, the newest entrant to the club, is still taking baby steps. INS Arihant is slated to go for sea trails anytime now. A 6,000-tonne vessel, it will be carrying nuclear warheads with the ability to hit targets 1,500 km away using the missile code named ‘K-15’. It is the first SSBN to be built outside the five countries who are permanent members of the UN Security Council — US, Russia, the UK, France and China. Former Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma once remarked at a press conference: “It will be on deterrent patrol”, meaning ready for a strike from under the sea if India is nuked.

It is China that India needs to watch out for. Beijing’s newest SSBNs — the Shang class — are like the previous generation of Russian/Soviet vessels. They weigh 10,000 tonnes and carry lethal inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) — Julang 2 — to hit targets 7,700 km away.

A US Congressional Research Service report in February 2014, titled ‘China Naval Modernisation’, said: “China has long regarded its submarine force as a critical element of regional deterrence. The poorly equipped (submarine) force of the 1980s has given way to a more modern submarine force, optimised primarily for regional anti-surface warfare missions near major SLOCs”.

Between 1995 and 2012, China placed into service a total of 52 submarines of all kinds, or an average of about 2.9 submarines per year, it said. Notably the last of the Indian submarines was inducted in 2000 till it leased one from Russia in 2012.

On the other hand, Arihant and its three other follow-on submarines pale in comparison to global competition. The US Ohio class weighs 18,700 tonnes and has 24 firing tubes to send out ICMBs at targets 8,000 km away. The brand new Yury Dolgoruky, a Russian Borei class, is the first SSBN built after the collapse of the Soviet rule and was inducted in January 2013. Two more have been commissioned and each carries some 20 ICBMs and displaces a whopping 24,000 tonnes, but still remains among the most silent vessels. France and the UK have long operated nuclear submarines and are looking at newer vessels.

Types of submarines

Submarines are classified into several categories. Abbreviations convey a vessel’s strike ability, its stealth and endurance.

SSK: The Ship Submersible Hunter-Killer is known as a conventional submarine, of which India has 14. These are diesel-electric powered. When the vessel is surfaced, the diesel generator charges the batteries — hundreds of them in each vessel. When it is submerged, the batteries power the submarine, allowing undersea activity of some 36 hours. Within the SSK family, a fitment called the air independent propulsion adds to be submergence capabilities allowing it to dive for 12-15 days.

SSN: The Ship Submersible Nuclear runs on nuclear fuel, but carries conventional land attack and anti-ship missiles. India has one of this.

SSBN: The Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear is the big daddy and can remain submerged for weeks, lying in wait for a command to fire. India is developing one SSBN submarine. It runs on nuclear fuel and carries undersea-fired submarine launched nuclear missiles that can hit at targets thousands of kilometres away. It was cold-war era’s feared vessel. De-classified documents of the US Central Intelligence Agency tell about a 1984 assessment titled “Soviet Submarine Warfare Trends” and narrate how Soviet vessels would sail under the Arctic-ice caps. “By patrolling under the ice, Soviet SSBNs could avoid anti-submarine warfare threat from enemy air and surface force,” it says.

Life of a submariner

A submarine is commanded by a Commander (Lt Colonel) level officer. He is assisted by specialists in each sub-segment of submarine warfare. Submarines are not no-risk operations, it is just that the risk has to be constantly managed with skilled and trained men keeping an eye on each stream of information flowing from sensors, radars, signals and tracking equipment on board. Apart from this, the parameters of batteries, the pressure in pipelines, fire retardant gases and oxygen levels have to be monitored. At any given time when the vessel is submerged, almost 50 per cent of the 70-man crew is on watch. When the vessel is about to surface, the entire crew is alert. It needs the concentration of a hawk.