BEEFING UP OUR SUBMARINE FLEET

In the last week of March, the Indian Navy displayed its submarine prowess. Eight of its submarines operated together in the Western Indian Ocean Region, a first in three decades, and one of its Scorpene submarines sailed to the Andaman Nicobar Islands, overlooking the Malacca Strait, a critical choke point for China. But how is the comparison with China? RITU SHARMA reports 

-  RITU SHARMA

The story of the Indian Navy’s submarine arm presents a dichotomy between its ambitions and capabilities. The submariners have an adage – “In the sea, there are two types of vessels – submarines and targets.”

Despite the frenzy in the media, eight operational submarines do fall woefully short of the 76 platforms of China’s submarine force comprising 8 SSBNs (ballistic missile submarines), 13 SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines), and 55 SSKs (diesel-electric submarines).

During that week, the Kalvari class (Scorpene) submarine reached INS Baaz, India’s last base in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region, for an inaugural visit. While it is a significant milestone for the Kalvari class submarines, projecting it as the representative of the Indian Navy’s reach leaves a lot for wanting as the Chinese submarines frequently foray into the Indian Ocean Region.

In November 2023, the PLA-Navy’s Type-093 Song class diesel-electric submarine participated in a joint maritime patrol with Pakistan Navy in the Western Indian Ocean Region.

On March 24, the Indian Navy announced that a Kalvari-class submarine visited Campbell Bay, India’s southernmost port in the Nicobar group of islands. The port overlooks the Strait of Malacca, the sea lane connecting the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea. The narrow lane is important for China both economically and strategically.

The island of Campbell Bay is just 145 kilometres north of Indonesia and can control the ‘six-degree shipping channel’ between Great Nicobar and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.