The Hindu : 'Navy should be repository of nuclear arsenal'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 03, 2002

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'Navy should be repository of nuclear arsenal'

By Our Special Correspondent

The Navy Chief, Admiral Madhvendra Singh, addressing the media in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt.

NEW DELHI DEC. 2. Citing global trends, the Chief of Naval Staff, Madhvendra Singh, today called for making the Navy, particularly its submarine wing, main repository of the country's nuclear arsenal.

His observations come a day before the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, arrives here to discuss, among other things, the sale and leasing of nuclear-capable planes and submarines. The leasing of the submarines could partly answer India's search for a "second strike'' nuclear capability. If the deal goes through, the submarines may arrive by 2004, by when the design for an indigenous nuclear-powered submarine, Advance Technology Vessel (ATV), may also be finalised.

India is also interested in the Russian long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft which are said to be nuclear capable. With the recent collision between two naval IL-38 aircraft, the Indian Navy is left with only three such planes, of which one has gone to Russia for repairs. "We don't have enough and are looking for some but we have not got any viable offers,'' he said.

Dwelling on the nuclear triad concept, Admiral Singh said, "at a conceptual level, any country that claims to be a nuclear weapon state and whose doctrine involves no first-use must necessarily have a nuclear triad. And if you look around the world, the stronger leg of the triad is not only at sea, it is underwater. The British have already moved their assets underwater and the French forces are doing so and the others will follow. It doesn't make sense to keep nuclear weapons on land because you are targetable. If you keep them at sea, all that you lose are a few sailors. Worldwide that seems to be the trend.''

Admiral Singh, however, gave no indication of the Government's line of reasoning in this regard. "What we will do depends on our decision-making in the future. I am only talking about what the other countries are doing.''

Speaking against the backdrop of highly critical media reports, the Naval chief strongly supported the acquisition of the Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, but expressed disquiet over the supply of spares for vessels of Russian origin. "There was no doubt in the minds of naval officers'' about acquiring Gorshkov and three teams of naval experts who had examined the ship had unanimously favoured a re-fit. "Both sides want a good deal and price negotiations are on by highly professional officers who are committed to India getting a good deal,'' he said. India possessed one second-hand carrier whose service life might end by the time the Gorshkov was operational.

The Naval chief felt that "any navy worth its salt'' must possess aircraft carriers and added that "the Gorshkov's operational utility is not in doubt. A navy with a carrier has a dramatic advantage over a navy which does not.'' Since the country needed three carriers — one each to operate around each coastal flank while the third went for overhauling — the Government had approved the indigenous construction of a carrier at the Cochin shipyard.

Maintaining that there was an improvement in the supply of spares, he said the Indian Navy would like to deal directly with the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). "We may not be happy with their system but we have to deal with it. The problems of the early nineties are behind us and by and large they are producing the spares we want. But, at the moment, we can't deal directly with OEMs. That to an extent creates problems. But Russia has been our partner for a long time and we hope our request will ultimately come about.''

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