India plans to set up nuclear submarine base in Andhra Pradesh next year

NEW DELHI: India plans to commission its strategic new naval base for nuclear submarines and other warships in coastal Andhra Pradesh next year, with an eye on China's ever-expanding naval forays into the Indian Ocean Region. India is also progressively upgrading the Karwar base in Karnataka on the western seaboard.

The strategic base located near the small coastal village of Rambilli, about 50km south from the Eastern Naval Command headquarters at Visakhapatnam on the eastern seaboard, has underground pens and a network of tunnels to house nuclear submarines.


This will enable the submarines to quietly slip into the Bay of Bengal without detection from spy satellites and quickly head towards the critical Malacca Strait and beyond on deterrent patrols.

"The first phase of the Rambilli base under Project Varsha is almost complete. After commissioning in 2026, it can be expanded and upgraded in phases, much like what is under way at the Karwar base under Project Seabird," a source said.

It has taken well over a decade for the construction of the nuclear submarine base to reach this stage after overcoming major technological, environmental and other challenges.

Phase-IIA of Project Seabird will enable Karwar to berth 32 warships

The source said, "The inner harbour is ready. Work on the outer harbour, with the requisite breakwaters and jetties, is in progress." Concurrently, India this year will also commission its third nuclear-powered submarine with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles (called SSBN in naval parlance), INS Aridhaman , with a displacement of 7,000-tonne, to add more teeth to the underwater leg of the country's nuclear triad.

Slightly bigger than the first two operational SSBNs, INS Arihant and INS Arighaat, INS Aridhaman will be able to carry more K-4 missiles with a strike range of 3,500km.

While a fourth submarine is also under construction under the secretive over ₹90,000 crore advanced technology vessel (ATV) project, there is also the plan to eventually build 13,500-tonne SSBNs, with much more powerful 190 MW pressurised light-water reactors instead of the existing 83 MW ones, as reported by TOI earlier. In Oct last year, the PM-led Cabinet Committee on Security also approved the construction of two 9,800-tonne nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) for ₹40,000 crore.

The eventual plan is for six SSNs, which are armed with non-nuclear missiles and other weapons for conventional warfare. On the West coast, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday inaugurated additional operational, repair and logistic facilities worth over 2,000 crore under Project Seabird at the Karwar naval base, which provides the Navy with both strategic depth and operational flexibility, especially against Pakistan.

Already the home base for over a dozen frontline warships, the completion of the ongoing Phase-IIA of Project Seabird will enable Karwar to berth 32 major warships and submarines as well as 23 yard-craft. A dual-use naval air station, a full-fledged naval dockyard, four covered dry berths and logistics for ships and aircraft are also part of this phase of construction.

After Phase-IIB, currently in the planning stage, the Karwar base spread over a 25-km expanse will be capable of basing 50 warships and submarines as well as 40 auxiliary craft, which will also go a long way in decongesting the Mumbai harbour.