It was on 26 July 2009 Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India with his wife Madam Gursharan Kaur landed in Visakhapetnam, one of the important ship building ports of India.
The purpose was to plant a historical milestone for India
It was Sunday and the time was .
Madam Kaur broke a coconut on the hull of INS Arihant – the nuclear-powered submarine to mark its launch.
Why a lady should break the coconut to launch a submarine? – we may ask.
According to naval convention warships are launched by ladies.
Indian Navy was correctly following the convention to make the launch of the submarine a grand success.
It was observed in person by Defense Minister A. K. Antony, the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta and many others – ministers and officials – along with millions of television viewers of India
Arihant – meaning, destroyer of enemies – was the name kept for the submarine.
The whole function was preceded by an invocation from the Atharva Veda with three women offering prayers to the earth, space and heaven.
This significant milestone was reached after 11 years of hard work put forth by various organizations such as Defense and Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the navy and public.
It was built under the code name ‘Advanced Technology Vessel’ (ATV) with the strategic cooperation of the Russian Federation
The actual weight of INS Arihant is 9,400 tonnes, 124 m long and 11 m wide.
The diving depth is 300 m and the machinery used was nuclear-pressurized water reactor using 20 per cent enriched uranium fuel.
The cost involved for the whole project was $2.9 billion.
The home made submarine was designed to launch nuclear-armed ballistic missiles and India U.S. Russia Britain China France
Arihant will undergo trials for two years before its induction into the Navy.
The difference between a nuclear powered submarine such as Arihant and a diesel-fired submarine is that the former can remain under water for a long during where as the latter has to rise to the surface everyday for ejecting the carbon dioxide produced by the diesel generator.
Arihant, according to Dr Anil Kadodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commision and Srikumar Banerjee, Director of BARC, has involved a number of modern scientific technologies.
There were novelties not only in the reactor’s design but in its manufacturing.
The contributions of our skilled scientists engineers, and technicians are to be congratulated for constructing a giant nuclear-powered submarine to safeguard our nation.
We should be proud of each one who was responsible for this important task.
The Prime Minister said: It was incumbent upon the country to take all necessary steps to keep pace with global advances.
He also said that we do not have any aggressive designs nor do we seek to threaten anyone. We seek an external environment in our region and beyond that, conducive to our peaceful development and the protection of our value systems.
Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon us to take all measures necessary to safeguard our country and keep pace with technological advancements worldwide.
It has rightly been said for India
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