Mighty India Power

Arihant, which translates as the 'destroyer of enemies" from Sanskrit, now has a new "heart" to take the battle to enemy shores. The miniaturized atomic reactor on board India's first indigenous nuclear submarine  INS Arihant h as "gone critical", in a big leap towards making the country's long-awaited "nuclear weapons triad" an operational reality. Sources said the 83mw pressurized light-water reactor, fuelled by enriched uranium, achieved "criticality" late on Friday night after months of "checking and re-checking" of all the machinery, systems and sub-systems of the 6000-tonne submarine at the heavily-guarded ship-building centre at Visakhapatnam. The green signal for the reactor to be "finally switched on" was apparently given by the top-secret meeting of the Nuclear Command Authority, chaired by PM  Manmohan Singh  and attended by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) members, among others, on July 31....

 Nothing projects raw power like an aircraft carrier prowling on the high seas, capable of unleashing strike fighters against an adversary in a jiffy. A nuclear-powered carrier can make the punch even deadlier with much longer operational endurance. With its first  indigenous  aircraft carrier (IAC) set to be "launched" at Cochin Shipyard on August 12, and sea trials of the first nuclear submarine  INS Arihant  to begin shortly after, India is now examining the possibility of having a nuclear-powered 65,000-tonne carrier in the future. Navy vice-chief  Vice Admiral RK Dhowan  on Thursday said a "detailed study" was underway on the "size, type of aircraft and their launch and recovery systems, propulsion" and the like for the IAC-II project . "Yes, we are also considering nuclear propulsion. All options are being studied. No final decision has been taken," he said. There are huge cost issues with nuclear-powered carriers, which can easily take up...

India will launch its first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, on August 12 from the Kochi shipyard. This will make India only the fifth country after the US, Russia, Britain and France to have the capability to build such vessels. "About 83 per cent of the fabrication work and 75 per cent of the construction work will be over when the ship goes into water," said Indian Navy's vice chief, Admiral Robin Dhowan. The rest of the work, including the flight deck, will be completed once the ship is launched, the Navy vice chief said. The aircraft carrier is expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy by 2018. Admiral Dhowan also said that the 40,000 tonne indigenous aircraft carrier is one of its most prestigious warship projects and unprecedented in terms of size and complexity. It has been designed by Indian Navy's design organisation. INS Vikrant will have two take-off runways and a landing strip with three arrester wires capable of opera...