outburst! India's nuclear submarines have just sailed into the South China Sea. According to the Global Network, on June 4, the Indian Navy's nuclear-powered attack submarine "Chakra-2" sailed from west to east into the Strait of Malacca Gorge. Today, the boat may have sailed into the South China Sea and is sailing northeast. The Chakra-2 is the Indian Navy's most aggressive strategic weapon, so its movements have been remarkable, although the ship has been in service for five years and has made few trips to sea.
Due to the busy passage of the Strait of Malacca and the large number of ships, in order to avoid bumping, the Chakra-2 raised its flag and sailed on the surface of the water, and opened the Automatic Identification System for Ships (AIS). The system shows that the destination of the voyage is Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. The boat is expected to return to Vladivostok for repairs, indicating that the Indian Navy does not yet have the ability to conserve nuclear submarines.
The Indian Navy's Chakra-2 attack nuclear submarine, originally the Russian Navy's last Type 971 Akula-II-class attack nuclear submarine, the Cheetah, was built by the Komsomolsk-na-Amure shipyard on the Amur River in Russia and entered active service in the Indian Navy in 2018.
The design characteristics of the "Akula II" attack nuclear submarine are full of Cold War ocean confrontation, which is still a rather dangerous "underwater killer" in the indian ocean characteristic sea battlefield environment. It adopts a good teardrop-shaped appearance, double hull, underwater displacement of 9500 tons, the power system is a 190 MW thermal power OK-650B pressurized water reactor, underwater speed of up to 30 knots, installed with 4 533 mm torpedo tubes (28 spare) and 4 650 mm torpedo tubes (12 ammunition reserves). Can launch 3M54E "Club" submarine-launched anti-ship missiles. The technical state is better than the early Chinese 093 attack nuclear submarine, but not as good as the 093 improved version.
As early as the Soviet Union, India rented a "Charlie" class nuclear submarine from the Soviet Union in late 1987 and named it the "Chakra-1" nuclear submarine, which also made India the sixth country in the world to have a nuclear submarine. The Indian Navy had initial experience with the use of operating nuclear submarines, but the charter period for the boat ended in 1991 and was returned to Russia.
The Indian Navy is very satisfied with the nuclear submarine Chakra-1. Lease agreements between the SOVIET Union and India were not denominated in U.S. dollars. Because of the adoption of the "Prague Non-Trade Payment and Settlement Agreement" system, the Soviet-Indian trade is denominated in Swiss francs and settled for barter, so India uses cheap jeans and shoes and other daily necessities to pay off the debt, basically using Russia's nuclear submarines in vain.
During the lend-lease period, the Indians turned the "Charlie" class nuclear submarine upside down, finally understood the construction principle and design method of the nuclear submarine, and obtained the relevant core technology. India's first self-designed and built "Enemy Destroyer" nuclear submarine, the overall design and technology is borrowed from the Soviet Union's "Charlie" class nuclear submarine.
(A close look at the "Chakra-2" nuclear submarine can find that the construction process of the ship is very rough)
On April 4, 2008, India and Russia signed a contract to lease a Type 971 Akula-II-class attack submarine for a 10-year lease period of up to $980 million, equivalent to about $100 million per year, which does not include the cost of Russia to help India train boat crews and provide technical and equipment support. Leasing this nuclear submarine, Russia's income is definitely quite large. However, the Indian Navy still thinks the rent is very cost-effective, because India's self-built "Destroyer" will cost up to $3 billion.
However, due to the fact that the Type 971 "Akula-II" class "Cheetah" attack nuclear submarine had several large and small accidents during sea trials, coupled with the lack of funds, there were some problems in the quality of submarine construction, and the failure was continuous. This was not until April 4, 2012, at the Visakhapatnam Naval Base on India's southeast coast, when Russia officially delivered the Chakra-2 to the Indian Navy.
The service history of the Chakra-2 nuclear submarine was very bumpy. The boat has rarely been out to sea since it entered service, because the Indian Navy's operation is not standardized, and a small accident occurred in 2015, and Russia sent experts to repair it. On January 5, 2017, a major accident occurred on the Chakra-2, exposing the scandal that the sonar system at the front of the hull was mysteriously destroyed.
It turned out that the "Chakra-2" nuclear submarine was sailing in the coastal waters of India, "unexpectedly and reasonably" hit an obstacle, most likely a wave-proof in the docks of the harbor, and the bow of the nuclear submarine was knocked out of a large hole. According to the analysis, it may be that the submarine touched the anti-wave while sailing close to the coast, or it was damaged while entering the harbor through a narrow waterway.
The collision was so severe that the bow was damaged, a large hole was directly opened, and the sonar cabin in the bow was severely damaged. Afterwards, it was only emergency repairs to the docking station, but fortunately the nuclear reactor was not affected. Sonar systems are the most important detection equipment for submarines and are quite sophisticated in construction. If the Indian Navy wants to repair the boat, it must need Russian technical support, and the cost of repair is bound to be quite high. Since then, the submarine has been lying in a paralyzed state in the harbor, and the Russian side has sent technicians to India to repair and clean the submarine, and many pipelines have been cut or replaced.
In March 2019, India and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement on india's lease of the Akula II attack submarine. The Indian side named the chartered nuclear submarine "Chakra-3". The lease is 10 years and the rent is $3 billion, and the nuclear submarine is expected to be delivered to the Indian Navy in 2025. This is India's largest defense order since spending $5.5 billion on the Russian S-400 air defense missile system.
(The Chakra-2 nuclear submarine is equipped with a very advanced overall escape module)
Since the lease period of the Chakra-2 nuclear submarine is due to expire in April 2022, according to the original agreement, it is expected that Russia and India will extend the lease period of 5 years after the expiration of the 10-year lease period until April 2027. The boat therefore needs to be repaired and upgraded. The "Chakra-2" nuclear submarine crossed the Strait of Malacca into the South China Sea and then sailed to Vladivostok for maintenance and upgrading. However, they must not sink in the South China Sea, there will be nuclear pollution!