India gears up for Nuclear Submarine Base, navy set to gain strategic edge

India is preparing to build a strategically important new naval base by next year. This naval base is being planned in Andhra Pradesh. Nuclear submarines and other warships will be deployed at this base. The purpose of building this base is to increase the strength of the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean and to counter the challenges of China. Apart from this, India is upgrading the Karwar base in Karnataka. This base is located on the west coast of Karnataka.

According to the TOI report, the new base will be built in the small coastal village of Rambilli. It is 50 kilometers away from the Eastern Naval Command Headquarters in Visakhapatnam. A network of tunnels will be built here for nuclear submarines.

This base will allow submarines to enter the Bay of Bengal without being detected by satellites. Sources indicate that the first phase of the Rambilli base, being developed under Project Varsha, is nearly complete. The base will undergo further upgrades and expansion, similar to the Karwar base under Project Seabird. Building a nuclear submarine base takes decades due to numerous technical and environmental challenges.

This year, India is also ready to commission its third nuclear submarine INS Aridhaman. This submarine has a capacity of 7000 tones and is slightly larger than India's two other nuclear submarines INS Arihant and INS Arighat. INS Aridhaman will be equipped with more K-4 missiles and will be capable of hitting targets within a range of 3500 kilometers. At the same time, India's fourth nuclear submarine is also being built under the Advanced Technology Vehicle project worth Rs 90 thousand crore.