India, on Sunday, on 10th anniversary of Kargil War, joined the elite club of countries having nuclear submarines. At present, only United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain have nuclear submarines. A nuclear submarine is one of the most potent weapons operating within sea which has ability to retaliate in case of a potential nuclear attack.
A 30,000 crore, 6000-ton, 110-meter long, 11-meter wide Indigenously built, INS Arihant, will be armed with 12-15 missiles, each capable of carrying a 5-ton nuclear warhead to a target of 750 km. It will be carrying a 95-member crew armed with torpedoes and missiles including 12 ballistic missiles. This will be put into active duty of Indian Navy in a couple o years from now.
Certainly, this is a great achievement for India and a feather in the cap of Indian Navy and will bolster its defense arsenal where it can retaliate to any misadventures from any rival country. However, Prime Minister Dr. Manomohan re-affirmed of no-first-use Singh stating that "We don't have any aggressive designs nor do we seek to threaten to any one." By including this submarine into its arsenal by India, one has to think twice before attempting any misadventures......................................
© 2009 Zafarulla Khan
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