India
India approves two mega defense projects for 2 indigenous nuclear submarines and 31 Predator drones | India News – Times of India
The Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the long-pending Rs 40,000 crore ‘Project-77’ for construction of the two nuclear-powered attack submarines (called SSNs in naval parlance), which will be armed with conventional missiles and torpedoes. and other weapons at the shipbuilding center in Visakhapatnam, the sources said.
The CCS also gave the green signal for the takeover of the 31 MQ-9B drones, with 15 Sea Guardians earmarked for the Navy and 8 Sky Guardians each for the Army and the IAF, paving the way for the government-to-government agreement to be signed in a few days.
Both the SSNs and the remotely piloted MQ-9B aircraft are “hunter-killer” weapons platforms because they can quietly gather intelligence, track enemy targets at greater range, and then destroy them if necessary. The dual capabilities, one deep underwater and the other high in the air, are critical given China’s rapidly expanding naval footprint in the Indian Ocean and beyond.
“It will take approximately ten to twelve years before the first SSN, with a 190 MW light water reactor and a displacement of almost 10,000 tons, will be rolled out. The two SSNs will be about 95% indigenous, with foreign assistance being sought only for some design consultancy, a source said.
The original case involved six such SSNs, which, with their speeds of more than 30 knots, their long endurance and their ability to operate discreetly in enemy waters, are intended for conventional (non-nuclear) warfare. “Apart from anti-ship missiles and torpedoes to neutralize enemy warships and submarines, they will also have land-attack cruise missiles. The other four SSNs will be deleted at a later stage,” the source said.
The approval comes shortly after India commissioned its second nuclear-powered nuclear-tipped ballistic missile submarine (called SSBN, which is for strategic deterrence, not conventional warfare) on August 29 as INS Aridhaman, and plans to launch the third previously entered as INS Aridhaman. next year.
TOI was the first to report on August 10 about the impending commissioning of INS Ariglaat and that the case for the two SSNs was moving towards final approval of the CCS after repeated iterations and inter-ministerial consultations.
In turn, the first MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft will be delivered within three years, while all 31 will arrive in India within six years of assembly. They are capable of strategic ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) long-range missions and over-the-horizon targeting activities, and can also undertake war operations against warships and submarines.
The 31 fighter-jet-sized drones are designed to fly for nearly 40 hours at altitudes of more than 40,000 feet and come with Hellfire missiles, GBU-39B precision-guided hover bombs, navigation systems, sensor suites and mobile ground control systems, among other associated equipment . .
India will also equip the drones with indigenous weapons in the future, including the Short-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (NASM-SR) being developed by DRDO.
Under the deal, drone manufacturer General Atomics will set up an MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) facility here and provide performance-oriented logistics support for eight years. Besides investing in India and sourcing 34% of components from Indian companies, the company will also provide expertise and advice to DRDO and others to develop such high-altitude drones domestically.
The pure operational usefulness of SSNs can be inferred from the fact that the AUKUS The military pact between the US, Britain and Australia, with a strong focus on China, revolves around Canberra gradually acquiring at least eight SSNs.
In India, as per long-standing approved plans, four SSBNs and six SSNs, apart from 18 diesel-electric submarines, are required to counter the dual threat of China and Pakistan.
