With Russian Aid, India Will Build Nuclear Sub by 2004, Expert Says

With Russian help, India plans to build its first nuclear-powered submarine by 2004 and eventually fit it with missiles carrying nuclear warheads, an Indian researcher said Friday.

The work would be in line with expectations that, after last month’s series of nuclear weapons tests by India and Pakistan, the South Asian arms race will shift to developing means to deliver the weapons.

Two reports in the latest issue of Jane’s Intelligence Review, based in Britain, focused on a key element of India’s planned delivery system. The reports were by Bombay-based science writer Gopi Rethinaraj and Andrew Koch, a senior research analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington.

India has said it needs a nuclear defense to counter the nuclear capability of neighbors China and Pakistan, with which it has fought a total of four wars in the last 50 years. India accuses China of supporting Pakistan’s nuclear program.

Rethinaraj said he believes that India will have the submarine’s hull and reactor in place by the end of this year and will complete integration of the components by 2004.

Russian assistance to the Indian project is mainly in non-nuclear areas such as hull design and underwater navigation, the report said. It said Russia is also helping India develop the Sagarika missiles and supplying a limited amount of turbojet and guidance technology.