India's 2 Future Nuclear Sub Bases Against China & Pakistan

The video here and above was uploaded by CaspianReport on 

February 3, 2025. It gets a few weapons systems wrong (like China's Type 092 SSBNs being the future and propeller driven P-8s) but much else is excellent, like China's and India's Indian Ocean bases and strategy.

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East Coast Nuclear Submarine Base

India's nuclear submarine base, under construction, is called INS Varsha on India's east coast.

As early as 2005, a nuclear sub base was planned to be located less than 200 km from INS Visakhapatnam (often shortened to Vizag). Vizag is the headquarters of India's Eastern Naval Command. Rambilli was chosen as the final location to construct the nuclear sub base. INS Varsha is being developed and expanded in phases at Rambilli 50 km south of Vizag. 

While the Navy mans India's Arihant-class SSBNs, operational control resides with India's Strategic Forces Command in Delhi. India's SSBNs will be the first Indian nuclear subs based at INS Varsha. 

Reasons to move the nuclear subs from Vizag port included decongesting the port and providing the subs with greater protection from conventional or nuclear attack. The Navy's dockyards at Vizag were facing a shortage of berthing space due to the rapid expansion of the Eastern fleet, which grew from 15 major warships in 2006 to 46 in 2012, and is still expanding. Civilian ships also use Vizag berths. Extensive crew accommodation is also part of the Varsha plan.

INS Varsha is near to one of the facilities of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) providing modern nuclear engineering support facilities. This will expedite reactor refuelling, maintenance and repair. Nuclear warhead maintenance (eg. topping up Tritium levels) might also be a job for the Navy and BARC nearby.

Varsha is designed to support a fleet of 12 nuclear subs including a rolling average of 6 SSBNs (drawn from 4 Arihants then 4 S5s) and 6 SSNs. These subs will be   protected in a network of underground pens in tunnels dug into the Eastern Ghats mountain range. This would avoid detection of the subs by mainly Chinese satellite and aerial surveillance as well as protect the subs from aircraft, missile and naval gunfire attacks. The subs will be able to be deployed into the waters of the Bay of Bengal stealthily without needing to surface. This is because the depth of the developing tunnel network and deep waters would act together like a "cloak". 

However, Chinese submarine or UUV laid undersea sensors might be able to detect the submerged Indian subs' comings and goings. So India will need to constantly "sweep" to find and disable these sensors. 

While designed principally as a nuclear submarine support facility, the new base will also accommodate additional surface naval vessels after the ongoing construction of piers. Varsha is comparable to China's PLAN Longpo/Yulin Hainan island nuclear submarine base. INS Varsha was started due to India's Look East policy and Chinese naval expansion into the Indian Ocean.

West Coast Nuclear Submarine Base

While Varsha is being partly undertaken to enhance India's naval capabilities on the east coast a similar expansion is being undertaken on India's west coast. This is at INS Kadamba under Project Seabird perhaps to include tunnels in the Western Gnats mountain range. INS Kadamba is surprisingly near the west coast city of Karwar. Any serious conventional or nuclear attack on future deep dug submarine tunnels at INS Kadamba would do Karwar no good. Karwar is 640km down the west coast from Mumbai. Mumbai hosts India's Western Fleet HQ along with many ships.

Both the Varsha and Seabird projects will take India many more years to complete. Meanwhile China's hardened Hainan base and second generation (or 2.5 generation?) nuclear submarine fleet is 20 to 30 years ahead.

India's 6 SSNs By the 2040s

GhalibKabir contrubued to the post below. On 10 October 2024 India’s Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in August 2024, authorised the laying down of 2 Project 77 SSNs costed at a total of US$4.7 billion.

Project 77 (formerly Project 75 Alpha) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_77-class_submarine is India’s program to build a class of 6 of its first nuclear powered attack submarines SSNs. In February 2015 the CCS authorised the eventual construction of those 6 SSNs costing all up US$14 billion (a figure that will increase greatly over time). These are being designed by the Indian Navy's Warship Design Bureau and built in India at the Ship Building Centre adjacent to India’s Fleet Base East (east coast) complex at Visakhapatnam (often shortened to “Vizag”). Design and some construction has commenced with the first SSN expected to enter service around 2040. Three Indian Arihant-class SSBNs have already been produced at the Ship Building Centre.

India's submarine developments, including Project 77 (was Project 75 Alpha) are described 2 minutes 20 seconds into the above youtube from Athena Defence (uploaded 2024).
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India’s SSNs are likely to be heavily influenced by Russian SSN technology especially the submarine reactor. This is because India leased a Russian Charlie I  SSN (K-43) known in Indian service as INS Chakra I and a Russian Akula II SSN (K-152 Nerpa) in Indian service called INS Chakra II. Convention submarine technology in the French and German submarine classes India has purchased for decades and Indian information gathering on other designs are also likely to influence India’s SSN design.

India’s SSNs will be powered by one CLWR-B2 pressurised water reactor (see right sidebar here) with an output of 190MW (thermal). This is a development of the Russian OK-650 reactor also rated at 190MW (thermal) converting to 34MW (electrical). For the 34MW figure see right sidebar here.

Weapons (Missiles)

India’s SSNs may have 8 to 12 VLS for BrahMos I or II (900 to 1,500km range) supersonic or hypersonic cruise missiles and Nirbhay subsonic cruise missiles (1,500km range). All these weapons are nuclear capable. India may have discontinued  Russian produced Club anti-ship cruise missiles by the time the SSNs are commissioned in the 2040s.

While 12 VLS slots are likely, subsonic cruise missiles might be loaded 3 to a VLS and larger BrahMos at one to a VLS. So up to 3 x 12 = 36 missiles could be carried in VLS. More missiles might be accommodated if a Universal Vertical Launch Module (UVLM) is added and if it is modified to more than 1 metre diameter.

Since subsonic missiles can get launched through the 533 mm torpedo tubes as well, depending on layout, 6 missiles could get carried in the torpedo section.

GhalibKabir has spotted this excellent article https://www.strategicfront.org/project-77-an-analysis-of-the-indian-navys-nuclear-attack-submarine-program/ which supports much of what has been written above.

Torpedoes, India’s new and future conventional submarines (SSKs) and UUVs will be raised in a post next week.

GhalibKabir

Unresolved US Controls on AUKUS Submarine Technology

Seemingly as a followup to my article of March 25, 2025 "Heightened US ITAR Regs Blocking AUKUS..." Reuters, via the (Singapore) STRAITS TIMES, reported May 3, 2025:

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/britains-aukus-adviser-briefs-us-and-australian-officials-on-project-review

"...Mr Trump’s tariff plans have raised some concerns about Aukus in Australia and questions remain as to whether Washington can boost US submarine production to meet its own targets and allow sales to Australia.

Among other obstacles, US controls on sensitive defence exports, relaxed for Australia and Britain and the Aukus project in 2024, still apply to certain submarine technology, requiring the issuance of special licences that can be time-consuming to obtain.

There have been concerns, too, about the Australian Labor government’s reluctance to discuss using Aukus submarines against China, something that could hurt US deterrence efforts in the Indo-Pacific if US vessels are transferred. REUTERS"

Singapore begins 2nd MRCV build

 In a development that is sure to trigger Pete about Australia's convoluted naval construction issues, Singapore's ST Engineering Marine shipbuilder (majority owned by Singapore's GIC, Temasak Holdings) has begun construction of the second Multi-Role Combat Vessel (MRCV). This means that the MRCV program is on track to see all six units delivered to the Republic of Singapore Navy from 2028 - a very speedy build time, considering these are large surface combatants.

Image from: NavalNews

The MRCV program was initiated in 2017 by the RSN as the successor class to the 500-ton Victory-class missile corvette, with the first public mention in 2018. The program also has a tie-in to Singapore's biannual IMDEX naval exhibition, with a host of shipbuilders, like DAMEN, Naval Group and ST Marine, showcasing potential designs at IMDEX 2019 in May 2019. 

At IMDEX 2023, a Saab/OMT joint design was chosen, with ST Engineering Marine serving as the primary contractor and builder, and Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) assuming overall program management. While in 2019, many of us assumed that the class would be a frigate-sized vessel with a displacement of 4,000 tons to 6,000 tons, NavalNews confirmed at IMDEX 2023 from conversations with bidding companies that the RSN's requirements had escalated displacement to 8,000 tons, with a crew complement of 80 - this indicates a high degree of automation, and is also in line with the Singapore Navy's current practice of using ST Marine to conduct all levels of MRO.

Steel was cut for the first in class in March 2024, and the keel was laid in October 2024, with the first vessel scheduled to launch by the end of 2025 (yes, this is a 21-month build program for the hull of an 8,000-ton surface combatant), though she will likely need two more years for fitting out of ship and combat systems before she's delivered to the RSN for commissioning, likely in early 2028.

If ST Engineering Marine maintains this current production schedule, with a MRCV hull completed every year, this would mean that the sixth and final hull should be launched in 2030. 

IMDEX 2025 is next week, and I am certain that there will be further updates on the MRCV, such as what they are actually going to be called (the RSN seems to favour attribute names, so we will not see an RSS Lee Kuan Yew as he actually disliked this practice), and we should find out what the ships will actually look like!

Possible China Threat To US Diego Garcia Base

See Diego Garcia's (red-lined yellow star) central strategic position in the Indian Ocean. Also see the 2,158km distance between Diego Garcia and would-be claimant Mauritius. (Map has been featured on Submarine Matters since 2009, courtesy International Maritime Bureau).

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The tiny island of Diego Garcia is home to a strategically important (mainly US and also UK) military base that sits in the heart of the Indian Ocean. It’s currently being used to carry out strikes against Houthis in Yemen and telegraph a warning to Iran over its nuclear program. Diego Garcia is even a forward base for US B-2 stealth bombers and occasionally US attack submarines (served by Emory S. Land-class submarine tenders) .

But this critical military base’s future is in question as China could soon extend influence to it. In the video below, dated April 26, 2025, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) explores how this island could be exposed to China if the UK moves forward on plans to cede control of the Chagos Islands to the Beijing-friendly (see China’s Foreign Ministry website) Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius. 

The video below features the advocacy of US Senator John Kennedy (Republican-Louisiana) from 3:19 onwards. 

Kennedy's Press Release, of April 26, 2025, states in part:

"WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) urged United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer not to move forward with his plan to hand over the Chagos Islands, including the U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia, to Mauritius in a speech on the Senate floor. Starmer will travel to Washington [last week April 2025] to meet with President Trump.  

Key excerpts of [Kennedy's] speech are below:

“Now, there is one other thing you need to know. Mauritius is very close to China. Mauritius has a very lucrative trade agreement with China, and you’ll not be surprised to learn that, after all of this has been developing, China all of a sudden is Mauritius’s best friend. Do you know why? Because if Prime Minister Starmer does this, Mauritius is going to own the base. They are going to own the base.”
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“I don’t care what Prime Minister Starmer promises you. The only reason he is doing this is because he feels guilty because the United Nations has said that the United Kingdom should be ashamed of its history and ashamed that it at one time owned colonies. 

“People of the United Kingdom can feel what they want. That is none of my business. But we have got an American military base there, and it is very important to defend the Indian Ocean against China. . . . I am sorry he feels guilty. He needs to go buy an emotional support pony, but he doesn’t need to give away an American military base.”

Background..."

Senator Kennedy has not been a member of US Senate Committees on Foreign Affairs, Defense or Intelligence (yet). But is active on some Foreign Policy issues.

Wikipedia advises:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Garcia#Handover_of_the_island_to_Mauritius

"On 3 October 2024, the UK prime minister Keir Starmer announced in a statement with the Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth that the UK will hand over the Chagos islands to Mauritius. The joint base on the island [of Diego Garcia] will stay, with the UK initially taking a 99-year lease of the base from Mauritius. Mauritius will be allowed to begin resettlement on the Chagos Archipelago, but not on Diego Garcia due to the sensitive nature of the base. US president Joe Biden welcomed the agreement, saying that it was a "clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes".^[3] The deal was put on hold following the 2024 United States presidential election to allow consideration from the new incoming administration.^[47]"

Pete Comment

Are Kennedy's concerns warranted?

What value does India place on continuing US de facto ownership of Diego Garcia?

Would India be alarmed at Chinese ownership of Diego Garcia?

China’s Latest Spy Ship Liaowang-1: Tracks Recon Satellites & Missiles from the Ocean

Please read several past Submarine Matters articles on Chinese spy ship activities by clicking on: 

https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/search?q=chinese+spy+ship