19 October,2016 02:07 PM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
Russia has quietly agreed to lease out a second nuclear attack submarine of the Akula class to India this month in a deal worth USD 2 billion
Representational picture
Russia has quietly agreed to lease out a second nuclear attack submarine of the Akula class to India this month in a deal worth USD 2 billion. According to a report by Hindustan Times, India currently operates Russian-origin nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra, which it leased for 10 years from Russia in 2012, which expires by 2021.
The Akula-class submarine part of India's nuclear triad with Agni V missiles and aircraft-delivered nukes is nuclear powered but armed with conventional land attack missiles. The lease deal was finalised at a summit-level meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Indian Navy and the Defence Ministry on Tuesday maintained silence on induction of its first nuclear submarine Arihant in the force, even as sources indicated the vessel has been inducted.
The submarine, the lead ship of India's Arihant-class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, has been designed based on the Russian Akula-1 class submarines. INS Arihant is India's first indigenous nuclear submarine, and the lead ship of the Arihant-class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, which was launched in 2009.
