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PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC), Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny announced today that a sunken vessel off the coast of the Aleutian Islands is in fact the World War II submarine USS Grunion (SS 216). "I am honored to announce that, with records and information provided by the Abele family and assistance from the Naval Historical Center, USS Grunion has been located," said McAneny. "We are very grateful to the family of Grunion's Commanding Officer Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele for providing the underwater video footage and pictures that allowed us to make this determination. We...

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - The Navy has confirmed the wreckage of a sunken vessel found last year off the Aleutians Islands is that of the USS Grunion, which disappeared during World War II. Underwater video footage and pictures captured by an expedition hired by sons of the commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele, allowed the Navy to confirm the discovery, Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny said Thursday in a news release. McAneny said the Navy was very grateful to the Abele family. "We hope this announcement will help to give closure to the families of the 70 crewmen of Grunion,"...

China's submarine fleet projects Beijing's power Jonathan Manthorpe Vancouver Sun Friday, September 26, 2008 Soon after dawn two weeks ago the captain of the Japanese destroyer Atago was on the bridge of his ship cruising within territorial waters off southwestern Japan when he saw something in the water about a kilometre away. "Isn't that a periscope?" he asked. Crew detected the target with the ship's state-of-the-art sonar. They then "pinged" what they took to be a submarine with their targeting sonar. Under the rules of the sea the submarine should then have surfaced and displayed its national flag or faced...

A sailor who died Saturday after he was injured aboard the ballistic-missile submarine Nebraska had become “entangled and pinned” in the rudder ram during a cleaning evolution, according to the Naval Safety Center’s Web site. The Navy was notifying the sailor’s next-of-kin and, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not yet released the victim’s name. The safety center Web site identified him as a third-class machinist’s mate. Navy officials have not provided any details about the “apparent accident” as the boomer was operating off Oahu on Saturday. “There was no damage to the submarine,” Lt. Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for...

Another Agosta submarine ready By Our Reporter KARACHI, Sept 22: SM Hamza, the second indigenously built Agosta 90B submarine, will be commissioned in the Pakistan Navy on Sept 26, giving a qualitative boost to its capability to defend the country’s maritime boundaries. This was stated by Commodore Hassan Naser Shah, general manager of the submarine construction project, and Commodore Shah Masood at a background briefing at the PN Dockyard on Monday. The commissioning of SM Hamza was termed a historical moment because it has a special feature of air independent propulsion system which increases the diving autonomy of conventional submarines....

TOKYO - Japan was searching Sunday for an unidentified foreign submarine detected in its territorial waters earlier in the day, the Defense Ministry said. The Aegis destroyer Atago of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force spotted what it determined to be a periscope of an unknown submarine between Kyushu and Shikoku islands in western Japan, the ministry said. By the time officials confirmed that the submarine was not a U.S. or Japanese vessel, it had left the area, it said. Officials dispatched the Atago as well as P-3C patrol airplanes to look for the submarine, the ministry said in a statement. "We...

◆ Unidentified sub enters deep into western Japan territorial waters  TOKYO, Sept. 14 KYODO     An unidentified foreign submarine temporarily entered deep into Japanese territorial waters between Shikoku and Kyushu islands, western Japan, on Sunday morning, Japanese Defense Ministry officials said.     The submarine which was detected at 6:56 a.m. south of the Bungo Strait had already left the region, they said. The nationality of the submarine is still unknown but Japan judged it did not belong to the United States, Japan's closest security ally, they said.     The last time such an incident occurred was in November 2004 when a Chinese submarine...

Another navy sub forced to dry-dock because of crew shortages Mark Dodd and Matthew Franklin | September 11, 2008 THE Royal Australian Navy is set to move the fourth of its six Collins-class submarines into dry dock because of crew shortages, undermining Kevin Rudd's plans for a massive upgrade in naval resources to counter a military build-up inAsia. Defence analysts warned yesterday that severe skills shortages meant the navy could not crew its existing vessels, let alone new assets proposed by the Prime Minister in a major speech to the Returned and Services League on Tuesday night. Mr Rudd told...

How The West Was Won The rapid and unexpected decline of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq was officially recognized this week, when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, commanding the Marine Expeditionary Force, turned operational control of Anbar Province over to the Iraqi army and police. Anbar, a vast expanse of desert the size of North Carolina, had been the stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. For years, foreign fighters loyal to al-Qaida had sneaked across Iraq's northwestern border with Syria, into Anbar and down a "rat line" of safe houses in Haditha, Ramadi and Hit. From Fallujah, the arch terrorist Zarqawi...

The waters in the Caribbean and around Latin America for a long time have provided a path for illicit drugs to flow into the United States, but the U.S. Navy has increased its patrols in the region now looking for something else – Hezbollah terrorists, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. The Navy, in trolling for mini-submarines sometimes used to transport drugs, has discovered that some of them apparently are being operated by Hezbollah. The mini-subs are small semi-submersibles, made of fiberglass and capable of carrying up to four people plus a payload. They are popular with...

Brazil will spend 160 million US dollars by the end of next year on the development of a nuclear-powered submersible to protect the oil reserves found recently off its coast, said Defence minister Nelson Jobim on Friday. The vessel, which officials hope to be complete by 2020, would be the first nuclear-powered submarine in Latin America and is being developed with Brazilian technology and lately French assistance. Speaking in Rio de Janeiro Defence Minister Jobim said the upgrade includes provisions for a massive technology transfer from France, essential if Brazil hopes to have a nuclear submarine. In February, French President...

Iran has launched the production line of a new domestically-manufactured submarine in an attempt to boost its defensive capabilities. Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar inaugurated the production line of the new submarine Qaaem, on Monday. Qaaem functions as a submarine capable of carrying and firing various torpedoes and subsurface missiles with a special operation crew onboard. During the opening ceremony, the Iranian defense official said the Islamic Republic has become self-sufficient in manufacturing all types of military vessels.

Pentagon Makes Fighting Extremism Top Priority Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon on Thursday officially named "the long war" against global extremism as its top priority and pledged to avert any conventional military threat from China or Russia through dialogue. The Defense Department, in a new national defense strategy, also emphasized the need to subordinate military operations to "soft power" initiatives to undermine Islamist militancy by promoting economic, political and social development in vulnerable corners of the world. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the change would help establish permanent institutional support for counterinsurgency skills...

TOKYO - JAPANESE Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura berated his subordinates on Saturday for failing to notify him of a radioactive leak from a US nuclear submarine, saying he learnt of the incident on television." The communication glitch came the same day that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda installed a new cabinet to revive sagging public support for his government. 'This (Saturday) morning I was watching CNN, and even if I don't understand English that well I saw that something strange was going on', Mr Komura, who retained the post in the new cabinet, told a news conference. 'I therefore contacted (his...

A Chinese labourer with only a basic school education has made a submarine at home. Tao Xiangli made the 1.6 tonnes submarine mostly from metal barrels and improvised parts by hand, reports Zhong'an Online. "Metal barrels are possibly the best material for me because of their low cost," said Tao, a migrant worker in Beijing. The 20ft submarine is cramped inside with room for only one person but it features pressure metres, monitoring cameras, a TV set, oxygen supply and headlights. "Although the equipment is simple, it's enough for a basic submarine, and more importantly, it enables the passenger to...

Turkey to negotiate with German joint venture for new submarines Turkey decided to launch talks with German joint venture HDW-MFI to procure new type submarines for the Turkish Navy, Turkey's Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said on Tuesday. The board decided to start negotiations with Howaldswerke-Deutsche Werft GMBH and Marine Force International LLP (HDW-MFI) for the procurement which is estimated to cost about 2.5 billion euros ($3.9 billion), Gonul told reporters after a defence industry meeting chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. HDW and its partner, Britain-based Marine Force International, will build the type-214 air-independent submarines at the Golcuk shipyard...

France offers India partnership to export submarines Sandeep Dikshit NEW DELHI: France has offered India a partnership to export hi-tech submarines to third countries. “Our strategy is not only to be in India for developing products for India but to develop for others because we think that a submarine is a strategic defence system which a lot of navies are interested in developing,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DCNS Jean-Marie Poimbeuf told The Hindu. Submarines are counted as among the most potent defence platforms as they can operate undetected far beyond a country’s shores. The DCNS, 75 per cent...

Reincarnation of Chakra 16:54 | 08/ 07/ 2008 MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - The leasing by India of a Project 971 nuclear submarine built in Komsomolsk-on-Amur is the latest hot news. The agreement, whose significance for Russian-Indian cooperation has yet to be assessed, could have a profound impact on the balance of forces in the region. Russia's role in creating the Indian submarine fleet is hard to overestimate - Soviet/Russian-built vessels have been its core since the 1970s. Of the current 16 Indian submarines on duty, 12 were built in the Soviet Union or Russia, including two...

To complete nuclear triad, navy to lease Russian sub 4 Jul 2008, 0304 hrs IST, Rajat Pandit,TNN NEW DELHI: India's long-standing quest to have a viable nuclear weapon triad — the capability to fire nukes from the air, land and sea — will finally take a big leap towards completion when it takes a Russian nuclear submarine on lease next year. This morale-boosting news for the country's strategic establishment comes with the fact that the 12,000-tonne Akula-II nuclear-powered attack submarine, which was being built at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur shipyard in Russia, began shore-based trials recently. "The submarine's sea-based trials will follow...

S. Korea to Ink Subs-for-Aircraft Deal With Indonesia By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korea is nearing a $1-billion deal with Indonesia to trade two of its 1,300-ton attack submarines and related technology for eight Indonesian-built advanced maritime patrol aircraft, a military source said Monday. Arms procurement officials from the two nations, which forged a ``strategic partnership'' in December 2006, will meet next week in Indonesia to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the proposed deal, the source said. ``The two sides have virtually finalized the deal, as Indonesia accepted our final proposal on June 12 when its vice...

Australian warship tests new torpedo Jeanette Stephen An Australian warship has successfully test fired a new torpedo designed to track and attack submarines. The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) has successfully test fired the new MU90 Lightweight Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Torpedo from HMAS Toowoomba. The test firing occurred at sea approximately 30 kilometres off Mandurah in Western Australia. “While the MU90 Lightweight Torpedo has been successfully tested in Europe, this Acceptance Test and Evaluation exercise represents the first time an MU90 Lightweight Torpedo has been fired from an Australian warship,” Mr Fitzgibbon said. Mr Fitzgibbon said the exercise was a milestone...

GROTON, Conn., June 18, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----General Dynamics Electric Boat will christen New Hampshire (SSN-778), the U.S. Navy's newest and most advanced nuclear attack submarine, at a ceremony at its shipyard here on Saturday, June 21, at 11 a.m. Cheryl McGuinness of Portsmouth, N.H., is the ship's sponsor. Mrs. McGuinness lost her husband, Tom McGuinness, on September 11, 2001, in the World Trade Center attacks. He was the co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

AFTER months of gliding silently underwater, stalking imaginary enemies, submarine commander Matt Buckley decided to give his 45 exhausted crew a treat. He ordered his HMAS Collins submarine to surface off the coast of Tasmania and flipped open the hatch. "We were at the entrance to Port Arthur," Buckley recalls. "It was one of those classic misty mornings and we sailed up to the convict ruins. As we glided through the water about 30 dolphins swam alongside us, it was just an incredible moment." It is moments like these the Royal Australian Navy would love to bottle and hand to...

Cdn. submarine fleet cut to one until late 2009, minister's note says Mike Blanchfield , Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 OTTAWA - For the next year and a half, Canada's Navy will have only one submarine at sea from its small fleet of four troubled, second-hand Victoria Class boats, Canwest News Service has learned. And the damaged HMCS Chicoutimi might not be seaworthy until as late as 2012 - two years longer than officials said it would take for repairs - meaning it will have been mothballed for eight years, according to documents recently released under the...

Nuclear submarine which hit rock may have to be scrapped

HMS Superb nuclear submarine damaged in Red Sea crash Last Updated: 10:35PM BST 27/05/2008 A British nuclear-powered submarine was damaged when it collided with rocks in the Red Sea, the Ministry of Defence has said. HMS Superb is in international waters but unable to dive because of the damage to sonar equipment HMS Superb hit an underwater rock on Monday and damaged its sonar equipment, forcing it to surface. None of the crew was hurt and the submarine is watertight, an MoD spokesman said. Superb, a Swiftsure-class attack submarine with a crew of 112, hit an underwater pinnacle 80 miles...

A British nuclear-powered submarine has been damaged after it hit rocks in the Red Sea, defence officials say. HMS Superb hit an underwater rock on 26 May and damage to its sonar equipment forced it to surface. No crew members were hurt and the submarine remains watertight, according to a Ministry of Defence spokesman. He said the submarine's nuclear reactor was "completely unaffected", but a full investigation was under way to determine the cause of the collision. The 272ft attack vessel had passed through the Suez Canal and was in the northern Red Sea, 80 miles south of Suez itself,...

A mission to find the lost wreck of the Titanic was actually a cover story for inspecting the wrecks of two nuclear submarines, the man who discovered the famous liner has revealed. Dr Bob Ballard led a team in 1985 that pinpointed the wreckage of the enormous ship 73 years after it sank in the Atlantic. But he almost didn't succeed after his top secret mission to find two Cold War subs left him with just 12 days to find the Titanic. The United States Navy lost two submarines during the 1960s - the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion -...

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success." While the United States...

Click Here For More News Links, Photos and a Re-Broadcast of the Commissioning Ceremony The USS North Carolina was Commissioned today at Wilmington, NC. Linda Bowman, who sponsored the submarine and christened it in April 2007, sent the crew running from the back of the audience onto the submarine. "You are a team and ready to go forth and defend this country," Bowman told the crew. "My hope is that she will sail in peace to keep us free. My assurance is that she will always be ready to defend that freedom whenever necessary. "Officers and crew of the...

Imagery confirms underground nuclear sub base in China Imagery confirms underground nuclear sub base in China Richard D Fisher Jr Analyst - Virginia Key Points Exclusive access to Digital Globe satellite imagery has allowed Jane's to document China's nuclear naval build-up on Hainan Island The Sanya base may be used to house the new Type 094 nuclear submarine High-resolution satellite imagery from Digital Globe has enabled Jane's to confirm the construction of a major underground nuclear submarine base at Sanya, on Hainan Island off the southern coast of China. Although Asian military sources first suggested the existence of the base...

Submarine 'caused' sinking of French trawler By Henry Samuel in Paris Last Updated: 2:55am BST 15/04/2008 French judges investigating the sinking of a French trawler off the English coast have officially declared it was most likely caused by a submarine - perhaps a British one. Five French trawler men drowned when the Bugaled Breizh from Brittany went down off Cornwall in January 2004. After four years of investigations, the theory that the boat was dragged down by a submarine was "the most serious", the two judges found, after ruling out the results of an earlier probe by France's Sea Accident...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Washington’s favorite Latin American bete noir after Fidel Castro, unsettled Washington again last year by negotiating a $1 billion deal with Moscow to purchase a number of 636-model Varshavianka-class (NATO designation “Kilo”) diesel electric submarines (Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostei, April 4). Various Russian and Venezuelan media reports say that the initial delivery will consist of three to four boats with an eventual nine submarines from Russia. President Chavez is reportedly traveling to Moscow next month for the inauguration of Russia’s new president, Dmitry Medvedev, and while there will sign an agreement for the delivery of the first...

Early concept work has begun on the UK's next generation of ballistic missile submarines. However, critics of the government's plan to renew the Trident strategic weapon system contend that the deterrent debate is by no means over. Denise Hammick and Richard Scott report In an office suite at BAE Systems' Barrow-in Furness shipyard in northwest England, the first steps are being taken towards the design and build of a new generation of ballistic missile submarines. The aim of the concept is to ensure that the UK can continue to deploy a submerged strategic nuclear deterrent capability for at least another...

New US Submarines Trade Nukes for SEALs Published: 2/27/08, 8:25 AM EDT By ERIC TALMADGE ABOARD THE USS OHIO (AP) - Capt. Andy Hale has just worked out and is still in a sweaty T-shirt and shorts as he stands in the battle command center. He is watching a flat screen display that shows what's happening outside on the bow and the aft. His billion-dollar submarine - the U.S. Navy's newest twist on underwater warfare - is hovering just below the surface off the Pacific island of Guam as a submersible disappears into the dark waters, carrying a team of...

WASHINGTON - The Navy took delivery of its newest attack submarine, Pre-commissioning unit North Carolina (SSN 777), from Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN) Feb. 21. North Carolina is the fourth Virginia-class submarine and the second delivered by NGNN. According to Virginia-class program manager, Capt. Dave Johnson, the delivery of North Carolina was a 10-month improvement compared to NGNN's first Virginia-class submarine, USS Texas (SSN 775). "The Navy's shipbuilding partners have brought the learning curve down and performance continues to improve," he said. The Virginia-class is the Navy's first major combatant designed and delivered specifically for the post-Cold War security environment....

U.S. Nuclear Submarine Docks in Busan A U.S. Navy guided-missile submarine has arrived in Busan for a visit. The USS Ohio is now docked at the pier of the South Korean Naval Operations Command in the southern port city. Capt. Andrew Hale, the sub's commanding officer, appeared confident on Tuesday afternoon when he spoke to Korean and foreign journalists who were invited onboard the giant vessel. It measures 170 m long with a beam of 12.8 m. The Ohio (SSGN 726) arrived in Busan last Wednesday to participate in Exercise Key Resolve/Foal Eagle, an annual combined/joint exercise involving forces...

BUSAN, South Korea — The revamped USS Ohio introduced itself to South Korea on Tuesday, marking the first time a nuclear-powered submarine has docked alongside the nation’s shores. Both U.S. and South Korean special forces will use the submarine during the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise happening throughout March in South Korea, said 7th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Doug Crowder. The Ohio now has more conventional weapons than any other submarine in the world, Capt. Andy Hale told a large contingent of mostly South Korean media at Busan’s naval port. However, it didn’t begin its life that way. The Ohio carried...

Chinese Submarine Fleet Is Growing, Analysts Say By DAVID LAGUE BEIJING — Several recent events, from an eagle-eyed spotting of an image on Google Earth to an overt military delivery from Russia, suggest that China is continuing its rapid expansion of a submarine fleet that would be particularly useful in a conflict with the United States over Taiwan, analysts and military officials said. American and other Western military analysts estimate that China has more than 30 advanced and increasingly stealthy submarines, and dozens of older, obsolete types. By the end of the decade, they say, China will have more submarines...

It seems drug smugglers are always coming up with new and innovative ways to get their drugs onto U.S streets. Well here's the latest, it's a drug smuggling submarine, it's a one of a kind - it's the only one that's ever been captured and made it to shore. It looks like a boat skimming the waves but look closer -- it's actually one of the latest innovations in drug smuggling. "We had a nick name, we called it "big foot" because there were a lot of intelligence that they may have been there, but we never saw one," Joe...

New class of submarine all about mission of stealth The Associated Press 02.17.2008 ABOARD THE USS OHIO — Capt. Andy Hale has just worked out and is still in a sweaty T-shirt and shorts as he stands in the battle command center. He is watching a flat-screen display that shows what's happening outside on the bow and the aft. His billion-dollar submarine — the U.S. Navy's newest twist on underwater warfare — is hovering just below the surface off the Pacific island of Guam as a submersible disappears into the dark waters, carrying a team of commandos. The USS Ohio...

If successful at mapping lake terrain Wisconsin and Antarctica, it could be used to search for life in the ocean on Jupiter's moon Researchers from NASA and the University of Illinois at Chicago atop the frozen surface of Wisconsin's Lake Mendota this week are preparing for interplanetary exploration. Below them, under a sheet of ice more than a foot (30 centimeters) thick, the space agency's new Environmentally Non-Disturbing Under-Ice Robotic Antarctic Explorer (ENDURANCE) maps the lake's underwater terrain. If this and subsequent voyages are successful, a similar vessel could be sent to navigate the suspected liquid water under the frozen...

MOSCOW -Russia has taken delivery of its first new-generation nuclear submarine since the fall of the Soviet Union, the submarine's builder said yesterday. The Yuri Dolgoruky was launched at Russia's secretive Sevmash shipyard in the Arctic town of Severodvinsk on Tuesday night. "The atomic submarine Yuri Dolgoruky was launched into the water," Sevmash said. Named after a Slavic prince who helped to defend Moscow, the Borei-class (Arctic Wind) submarine can carry 107 sailors for 100 days without surfacing.

 (edit)The concept car developer Rinspeed calls its "sQuba" the first real submersible car(edit) Rinspeed says its car can provide a stable "flight" at a depth of 30 feet."For three decades I have tried to imagine how it might be possible to build a car that can fly underwater," says Frank Rinderknecht, Rinspeed's 52-year-old CEO and a professed James Bond fan. "Now we have made this dream come true." The car will be unveiled at next month's Geneva Auto Show.Rinderknecht says it is difficult to make a car watertight and pressure-resistant enough to be maneuverable underwater."The real challenge, however, was to...

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan? It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said. Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding...

BEIJING: For a procession of senior U.S. military commanders who have visited China in recent years, the complaint has become almost routine. As part of a sustained military buildup, they say, China is investing heavily in so-called area-denial weapons without explaining why it needs them. The term area-denial weapons refers to a combination of armaments, technology and tactics that could be used to dominate a specific area or keep opposing forces at bay in a conflict. And one of the most formidable examples U.S. commanders identify is the Chinese Navy's rapidly expanding fleet of nuclear and conventional submarines. "I would...

Brazil Seeks to Build Nuclear Submarine By STAN LEHMAN – 7 hours ago SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Brazil is seeking to buy military technology from France that could help it become the first country in Latin America to have a nuclear submarine, the Defense Ministry said on Monday. Defense Minister Nelson Jobim traveled to France last week to discuss the possible purchase of a diesel-powered Scorpene class submarine that would "serve as a model for the development of a nuclear submarine, which is the main objective of his visit," said Defense Ministry spokesman Jose Ramos. "Any defense-related agreement that...

Dive bombers They can wipe out entire nations, and the British government plans to build even more. Are our Trident nuclear submarines essential for peacekeeping, or are they just expensive relics of the cold war? Michael Bilton meets the men with their fingers on the trigger. Photographs by Simon Norfolk Gordon Brown had been prime minister for only a few days when he learnt what it is to be the only person who can order the launch of Britain’s nuclear weapons. He sat down to write a personal letter to the commanders of the Royal Navy’s four Trident missile-carrying submarines....

The secret undersea weapon Sandeep Unnithan January 17, 2008 Located up the winding shipping channel in Visakhapatnam harbour is a secret, completely enclosed facility known only as the Shipbuilding Centre (SBC). Inside this dry dock, nearly 50m below ground level, is a cylindrical black shape, which is as tall as a two-storey building and at 104 m in length, is longer than the Qutub Minar lying on its side. Technicians working on it confess to a surge of national pride: India’s first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine or SSBN is arguably its greatest engineering project. For over a quarter of a...

Dud missile Sandeep Unnithan January 10, 2008 It was dubbed Baby Tomahawkski, a short-legged Russian version of the eponymous US cruise missiles. Fired from the torpedo tube of a submarine, it could fly over 300 km delivering a 400 kg warhead to a target with pin-point accuracy. It would give the Indian Navy’s submarines capability to attack targets on land. Yet, the Kilo class submarine INS Sindhuvijay and the land-attack missiles it is equipped to fire have today joined aircraft carrier Vikramaditya as another bone of contention that India has with its largest defence supplier, Russia. The navy recently refused...