New Delhi (AsiaNews /
Agencies) - The Indian Navy now has a nuclear submarine, leased from Russia for the
next 10 years. Defense
Minister AK Anthony officially announced the news this morning at
Vishakhapatnam on the east coast in the Bay of Bengal.
With
this new arrival - which will cost in New Delhi
about a billion dollars - India
joins the select group of countries with nuclear submarines, along with the United States, France,
Russia, Britain and China.
The
submarine K-152 Nerpa sailed from the Russian port of Vladivostok
40 days ago. India
has renamed it the Chakra Ins II. In
line with the international non-proliferation treaties, the submarine will not
be equipped with nuclear weapons, but will carry cruise missiles.
Already
at the end of 1980 New Delhi had
"rented" a nuclear submarine from Moscow, using it to train Navy personnel. The Chakra Ins II instead will
be operational. Initially,
India
was supposed to have obtained it in 2008, but an accident happened during some
tests - which killed about 20 Russian sailors - delaying its delivery.
The Indian Navy has
already trained a crew. To
lead and manage the submarine requires a crew of 70 people, including about
thirty officers. At the heart of the
submarine is a nuclear reactor. With
a top speed of 30 knots, it can submerge to 600 feet in depth, for at
least 100 days without surfacing. The nuclear-capacity
of missiles is over 700 km.
Moscow supplies 70% of the military arsenal to New Delhi. Meanwhile,
India
is building its own nuclear submarine, the Arihant, which should be operational
by next year.
In
India
about 40% of the population lives below the poverty line on less than a dollar
a day.