In 1948, Jal Usha, the first ship in Independent India was built and inaugurated in Visakhapatnam. After a little more than 60 years, another significant event in the history of India is about to unfold in Visakhapatnam.
The highly-secretive nuclear submarine project (covername : ATV) has been denied for almost three decades by various Governments and defence personnel. The layers of secrecy began to dissolve when the Defence minister for the first time since 1980's acknowledged the project and commented on its progress in Feb 2009. It is now scheduled to be inaugurated towards end of July.
I will follow up with another post on what all the excitement is about. For now, here is the report: India's first nuclear submarine to be launched soon
Quote:
- After spending over a decade cloaked under an obscure project name, the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) India’s first nuclear submarine finally gets a name: Arihant (destroyer of enemies), pulled out of a list with options like Astra. But more importantly, the Arihant propels India into an exclusive league of only five other nations who have designed and built their own nuclear-powered submarines. It also marks the first step towards the acquisition of the third leg of the nuclear triad— a secure underwater platform for launching nuclear weapons.
Now, four decades after it was proposed, first of the ATVs, is going to meet its new home.. water.
Quote:
- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s wife Gursharan Kaur is to crack the auspicious coconut marking the historic launch of India’s first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine at the naval dockyard, Visakhapatnam on July 26.
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