Indian SSBN: Pakistan Watch Out!

The Indians' new submarine, the INS Arihant (Sanskrit for "Destroyer of Enemies") is officially in the water.

This Telegraph article includes a nice little plan view of the submarine.

Some details:

• Will carry a 750km ballistic missile, with a 1500km planned range on the next generation
• 40% indigenous content (i.e. mostly Russian)
• Looks like 12 missile capacity, although some press reports said only 5 (maybe that's all India has in stock)
• One year until her reactor lights off

Welcome to the club, India!

Indians to launch own nuke sub; Sub Blogger glorifies us all

The Indians are set to launch their first, indigenously built, nuclear submarine soon. This in addition to taking delivery of their bad luck Akula from the Russians and the former Admiral Gorshkov (POS) carrier also from the Russkies.

Now, love him or hate him, let's hope the Obama administration follows through on one Bush policy that should be continued - the continued closer cooperation with our friends in India. This, along with Bush's Africa policy, are important foreign policy choices that we need to continue.

In other news - the dean of Submarine bloggers, Joel Kennedy, was recently in the news himself. Stop over at The Stupid Shall be Punished and read Joel's take on it, then go read the interview your own self!

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Preparing for the century of Asian dominance...

I will make no secret of my respect for the Indians. As we enter a century that is going to be dominated by the Chinese and Indians, I am thankful that we have begun the process of aligning ourselves with the Indians. This is a country that has established a democratic tradition, is filled with human capital, and who I believe recognizes their importance in the 21st century. I think as we move forward, we are all going to thank the Bush administration for one of their more prescient foreign policy moves, the strengthening of ties between our two countries. This ultimately has benefits for the U.S. as we have a strong, democratic global partner, and for our defense industry, if we can yank business away from the Russians, who have a long-term relationship as India's arms supplier.

So, this article discusses briefly the Indian Navy's leader and his worries as the Indian defense budget (though rising, is below 2% of GDP) is less able to sustain the desired ship buildup (sound familiar?). It's heartening to me that the Indians recognize that the quickest way to sea dominance is through the continued building of submarines, and, yes, nuclear ones. India is still planning to lease Akula class subs from the Russians. Of course, since my interest in the Indian Navy is newfound, I didn't realize that India has been trying to complete this Akula lease since 2004 (article and discussion).

Now, the Indians have signed a $2.2B deal to buy 8 P-8's from the U.S.

Nothing after...

Indians trying to get Manhattan back, testing new sub-launched missile

The Indians are testing a cruise missile that supposedly will carry a nuclear payload, and be launched from their planned class of nuclear-powered submarines. From this article, you can link to a pretty nice artist conception of the Indian's new submarine.

I say it's nice that the Indians are going to be on our side. Here's to some collaborative efforts with them.

You will find nothing after the jump.

Kitty Hawk to India Saga Continues

As Defense Sec'y Gates travels to India, the Indians are writing about his offer to give the Kitty Hawk to the Indians. And here is the rest of it.

Kitty Hawk to India

From The Weekly Standard, via redstate, comes this report that we may just be offering the Indians the USS Kitty Hawk, instead of scrapping it. The Russians were supposed to be delivering their old carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov, to the Indians, but that has been beset by delays, and now, apparently a dispute over the price. In exchange for the Indians filling the flight deck with aircraft purchased from us, we may give them the Kitty Hawk. (Nothing after the jump)