Bharat Rakshak

SOUTH SEA FLEET HEADQUARTERS - ,ZHANJIANG -CHINA

Admiral Zhang Yushu sipped into his 23rd cup of rose flavored green tea poured by his secretary as he finished the invasion fleet sailing check list. His main strength were the formation of four Russian destroyers with capability to engage any air strike that will undoubtedly be mounted on his fleet once in the open ocean by Indian navy . Naval intelligence have confirmed presence of Goroshkov in Subic bay the old carrier Virat in US navy base at San Diego . Admiral wanted to deploy the Russian destroyers covering the landing ships and troop carriers which were the most vulnerable to pre emptive air strike . The lead elements of the fleet will be troops carriers and the landing ship tanks protected by the four Russian destroyers protection against iar and ship launched attack .The rear of the armada will be protected by the flotilla of frigates and some less capable destroyers against possible submarine strike

On Jan. 3, 2002, Rosoboronexport signed a contract with the Chinese for $1.4 billion for the construction of two Sovremenny-class destroyers for PLA needs. Let's look again at the Rosvoouruzheniye catalog (text is excerpted):

"Sovremenny Class is a Russian class of destroyers designed to engage hostile ships by means of missile attack, and to provide warships and transport ships with protection against ship and air attack. Intended primarily for anti-ship operations, it was designed to complement anti-submarine warfare (ASW) Udaloy destroyers (of a previous generation). The ships have anti-ship, anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and coastal bombardment capability. The ships, with a maximum displacement of 8,480 tons, are similar in size to the U.S. Navy's Aegis-equipped missile cruisers, and are armed with an anti-submarine helicopter, 48 air defense missiles, 8 anti-ship missile launchers, torpedoes, mines, long-range guns and a comprehensive electronic warfare system

According to Russia's Interfax agency (June 28), the Severnaya Verf (Northern Wharf) shipyard in Petersburg began building the first of two Sovremenny 956EM Project destroyers for China in June 2002. E and M in the project designation stand for "export" and "modernized." Construction of the second destroyer should start at the end of July. The two destroyers are to be completed and delivered to the customer in early 2006.

The ships were developed by the St. Petersburg-based Severnoye (Northern) Design Bureau. Several Russian shipyards competed for the contract, Baltiysky Zavod (St. Petersburg-based Baltic Shipbuilding Plant) and Severnaya Verf shipyards being the principal competitors. Eventually, the order was placed with Severnaya Verf, which was engaged in building two 956E destroyers for PLAN from 1997 to 2000.
The project 956EM destroyers will boast cutting-edge armament assets. This vessel has been designed for countering hostile surface ships and landing craft (its major duty), countering anti-aircraft and anti-missile defenses of combat and transportation ships, providing fire support to landing units, and patrolling and carrying out various missions as part of a formation or separately.

The 956EM destroyer is fitted with advanced missile and artillery assets and torpedo, radar and anti-submarine systems, as well as the Moskit supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles. Length of the destroyer is 150m, and beam is 17m; it is capable of traveling at a speed of 34 knots (60 km per hour). (end of brief description)

Severnaya Verf, indeed, constructed for China two Sovremenny 956E destroyers in 1997-2000. Both destroyers – by 1997 – were about 40 percent ready. The Russian navy – the initial customer – terminated the order due to lack of funds. Severnaya Verf got the new order for the additional two destroyers, to be constructed from scratch, in terribly heavy competition with Baltiysky Zavod (no room here to describe this New Russian-style thriller).

Remarkably, (a) this time, construction should take place much more rapidly (by early 2006 the two destroyers should start service in Qingdao or Zhanjiang naval seaports) and (b) the 956EM destroyers will be much more advanced than the 956E ones; the 'M' means a lot here. According to Western experts, these destroyers – according to their design, at least – are the naval vessels of the 21st century.

And they are incomparably more advanced than two Luhai-class destroyers, the best and largest Chinese-made naval vessels, whose construction was finished in Dalian in 1997 and 2000, respectively (there is some uncertainty regarding the second destroyer).

According to an article in Moscow-based Novyye Izvestiya newspaper (June 27), China is preparing for the American occupation of the naval base at Cam Ranh, Vietnam, recently abandoned by the Russian navy. That's why, according to the Chinese-Russian contract signed on Jan. 3, 2002, Severnaya Verf must produce two Project 956EM ships for PLAN as early as 2005.

The Chinese were primarily attracted by the Moskit anti-ship strike system with its supersonic missiles, which NATO calls the "aircraft-carrier destroyer." Two 956 E destroyers, received in 1999-2000, increased greatly PLAN's capability regarding conflict with U.S. Navy aircraft carrier groups. And there is information that the two new 956EM destroyers, which Severnaya Verf has begun to build, are to be equipped with more improved weapons, namely, Yakhont systems, whose effective range reaches 280 km (as opposed to 100 km for the Moskit missiles).
The leading U.S. papers published, in May-June 2002, dozens of reports on a Chinese-Russian contract for PLAN to purchase eight Kilo 636 diesel-electric submarines for $1.6 billion. We'll describe the most remarkable features of this bargain.

These submarines are much more advanced than the four Kilo submarines received by PLAN in 1995-98. They are equipped with two new-generation weapon systems:

Klub anti-ship cruise missiles with a range up to 200 km; the Klub or 3M54E1 is developed by the Yekaterinburg OKB (Experimental Design Bureau) Novator; no counterpart has been invented in the world. They have three stages: The first two define movement at subsonic speeds, the third goes into operation 20 km from the target at supersonic speed, which guarantees invulnerability from enemy air-defense weapons and destroys the enemy's ship. The Kilo-636 submarine with the Klub system is capable of salvo firing of missiles simultaneously from six torpedo tubes – and not only at surface targets, but also at submarines.

The Shkval torpedo, whose speed reaches 100 meters per second. After launch under water, it flies through the air and descends by parachute into the region where the hostile ship was detected and then again travels under water. Under such conditions the commander of the targeted submarine simply cannot perform an anti-torpedo maneuver. Incidentally, the Russian navy has no ships yet with such a weapon. In 2001, China acquired at least 40 Shkval torpedoes from Russia and/or Kazakhstan. It is supposed to use them on "093 project" nuclear submarines also.

Just like the Sovremenny 956EM contract, the contract for Kilo submarines caused intense competition among Russian enterprises. This resulted, by early July 2002, in the following: Five submarines will be produced by the Komsomolsk-na-Amure shipbuilding plant (the Khabarovsk region of the Russian Far East), two by the St. Petersburg-based Admiralteisky Verf plant, and one by the Sormovo shipbuilding plant on the Volga river, in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The contract for constructing two submarines will be transferred from the Komsomolsk-na-Amure plant to Northern Machine Building Enterprise (NME) in Severodvinsk city, on the White Sea. That's despite NME having no experience in Kilo submarine construction (in contrast with the other three shipyards), and getting the Kilo submarines from Severodvinsk to China will be very difficult. 3) The authors conclude that, simultaneously with the eight submarines constructed in Russia, at least four submarines of the same kind will be built at China Shipbuilding Industry Group Corp.(SIGC) shipyards in Shanghai, Wuhan or Guangzhou cities. As early as 1997, the Chinese and Russians negotiated for China's purchase of about 10 Kilo submarines in exchange for their manufacturing technology.
In 1999, China finished the construction of a "super-Kilo submarine" – the improved version of China's Song diesel-electric submarine. China already has part of the Kilo construction technology; now SIGC will get the entire technology. 4) The order for eight submarines is distributed between three Russian enterprises, in order to accelerate the project's realization. The Chinese will spare no efforts to get all the submarines by 2006 (despite the contract prescribing project completion by 2007).

Finally, by 2006, PLAN could get an entire fleet of comparatively advanced diesel-electric submarines: three to four Song, four old-generation Kilos, eight new-generation Kilos, and at least four Chinese-made Kilos of the new version. Such a fleet, united with the aforementioned advanced destroyers, could greatly affect the naval balance not only around Taiwan, but in the South China Sea and East China Sea as well.

Before the mid-1970s, the PLA Navy showed little interest in developing a large amphibious warfare fleet due to its coastal defence doctrine. The 1974 conflict with the South Vietnamese Navy in the South China Sea made the PLA realise the importance of a credible maritime power projection capability. This has resulted in the introduction of the Type 072 (Yukan class) large landing ship programme in the mid-1970s, with the first-of-class Zijinshan (pennant number 927) launched in Zhonghua Shipyard in 1978.

The Type 072 has a load capacity of 450t and a maximum speed of 18kt. The ship could carry 250 troops and two tanks over a long distance to the remote islands in the South China Sea. All seven Type 072 landing ships were deployed by the PLA Navy South Sea Fleet based at Zhanjiang Naval Base in Guangdong Province. Two ships of the class were sent the Nansha (Spratly) Islands in the South China Sea during the conflict with the Vietnamese Navy in 1988. Construction of the Type 072 stopped in the early 1990s when the more capable Type 072-II (Yuting class) was introduced.7 ships, all in the East Sea Fleet: 927 (Zijinshan), 928, 929, 930, 931, 932, 933.

The Type 072 is the first Chinese landing ship to have utilized the destroyer-style bow with two side-hinged doors and a ramp instead of the old WWII-style flat-bow with a single large bottom-hinged door/ramp design. This enables the ship to maintain a high cruising speed of 18 knots. The ship has the capacity for the military lift of 250 troops, or 5 tanks, or 10 vehicles, or 450 tones of cargo.

The tank deck provides large floor area for the transportation of material and is accessed via both the bow and stern ramp. Driven by hydrodynamic power, the 17m foldable bow ramp has a max load of 50 tones and can be launched within 3 minutes. Vehicles can also be loaded/unloaded via the stern ramp, which can support a maximum weight of 20t. The ship does not have the facility to land helicopters.
The weapon configuration may vary on different hull. The basic configuration includes 4 manually operated Type 66 dual-57mm/70-calibre AAA gun (rate 120 rds/min; range 12km) and 2 manually operated Type 61 dual-25mm/60-calibre anti-aircraft guns (rate 800~900 rds/min, range 2.7km). The ship is fitted with a surface search radar and a navigation radar.The ship's propulsion is provided by two 12E390 diesels rated at 9,600hp. There are two shafts driving two fixed-pitch propellers, giving a max speed of 18 knots.

The admiral knew he has a formidable fleet at his command –impressive by any standard .He also expected substantial air cover by PLAN/PLAAF Su -27s/Su 30 S once into Andaman’s sea from their land bases in Myanmar including limited AWACs cover .He knew his fleet will be some what vulnerable in the gulf of Thailand because of distance from shore based air support and known presence of at least one Indian carrier in the region and another possibly sailing towards the possible conflict zone right at this moment.

He had no information about the two Akulas or the about the Brahmos equipped fleet of Indian navy ships due to sail into Vietnam naval base of Cam Ranh in 2 days time.

Presence of Moskit in PLAN ships was well known to Indian navy and also about the dozen or so Yakhont missiles supplied by Russia for its flankers. So neutralizing the Moskit equipped ships were priority one for the Indian surface combatants deployed in the gulf of Thailand. The Admiral still did not have any answer for ship and more worrisome air launched Brahmos missiles which may play havoc with his well co ordinated plan of invasion.

He knew according to Murphy's law -anything that can go wrong will usally
go wrong in combat .

In the distance the lead destroyer of the flotilla cleared the pier and eased out slowly through the protected entry channel of the harbor .It will take almost 24 hrs for the entire fleet to get going

INS VIRAT – OFF THE COAST OF MIDWAY ISLANDS –WESTERN PACIFIC

Lt Commander Vina Peter woke up with the soft buzz of alarm clock by her bed side. Today she was scheduled to check out one of the new harriers transferred from royal navy recently and she intended to put the refurbished aircraft through the paces. Though not officially a test pilot the rules were being bent by the navy a little to ensure Virat will meet up to the challenges of the coming conflict .

A quick shower and a light breakfast of lightly buttered toast with two soft boiled eggs later she was ready for the Cat 2 pre sortie medical test specifically to ensure the fancy pilot do not die of a heart attack with the expensive jet strapped to her back. To do so, one undergoes measurements to ensure height and weight are within the requisite parameters for the ejector seat; urine is analyzed, along with blood pressure and pulse and assessed against a full medical history; an ECG tells the doctor that one’s heart is fit enough to withstand the loads likely to be placed on it and finally, a face to face interview with the medical officer who then signed her off for the sortie.

A short while later, she changed into her flying kit and walked out to the aircraft waiting for her on the remote corner of the flight deck and climbed into the cramped cockpit, an epitome of function over form. As she strapped on the 5 point harness which anchored her to the jump jet and also anchors her legs with the ejection seat . Then she started closing in the multitude of miniature circuit breakers and the canopy closed around her silently enclosing her in a virtual safety cocoon. She checked the oxygen flow to mask controlled vide a chest mounted regulator adjustable up to cabin air mix upto 100% oxygen but she did not need it now and left it in the down position. Jacked on the radio and quickly adjusted the head up display settings which would be her life line in any critical flight situation ,projecting from the flight computer data on air speed, altitude, attitude, g force instaneous, vertical speed along with the most vital information of all target data and weapon availability and status .She finished arming the canopy with its miniature detonator cord and then the martin baker ejection seat before calling the island tower for take off clearance


- tower – sea eagle one –request permission for motor start
- sea eagle one –tower –stand by –
- rescue one you are cleared for immediate take off

In the distance the sea king rescue helicopter .reserved for picking up downed pilots increased power and angled off and awy the flight deck ,taking up station few hundred meters off the port

-sea eagle one –tower –cleared for engine start
The ground crew stood at attention with portable fire extinguishers as the sea harriers engine cam to life with a shrill whine. They moved out and away as Vina increased power, standing on the brake

(Using the throttle, the pilot needs to ensure that engine thrust provides sufficient jet-lift to keep the aircraft aloft before ‘down’ nozzle is selected. However, this interaction between the amount of thrust and its direction is the only major piloting difference between the Harrier and other aircraft, albeit one that needs careful training to master. In addition to the vectoring engine nozzles, the Harrier also requires a method of controlling its attitude during jet-borne flight, when the normal aerodynamic surfaces are ineffective. To this end, a system of reaction control nozzles in the nose (blowing down), wingtips (blowing up and down) and tail (down and lateral blowing) are fitted to the aircraft. These nozzles are supplied with high pressure air bled from the engine and are operated by the normal flying controls. Pilot command operates valves in each nozzle that allow powerful jets of compressed air to provide the desired movement in pitch roll or yaw.)


However today Vina did not intend a vertical take off since she was carrying far too much fuel and also the full complement of air to air as well as a sea eagle live missile for practice firing
-sea eagle one –tower –cleared for take – good practice
- tower –sea eagle on – cleared for take off – rolling now

Lt commander Vina Peter at the console ,flaps in take off configuration, engine exhaust temperature normal, lube oil pressure in the green ,hydraulics pressure ok ,the flight deck looked as usual straight and clean as she tightened the harness one last time before pushing the throttle all the way forward ,waited for a few seconds and then with a flick of her toe released the brakes .

The small aircraft lurched forward and then accelerated like no one business flashing past the island structure and was over the ocean in less than 4 seconds .Her hands moved with practiced ease as she kept the aircraft on level flight for a few mores seconds to gain air speed and at the same time pulled up the undercarriage lever ,all the lights turned red and the undercarriage well door close d with a re assuring thump as Vina checked the air speed and gently pulled up on the stick rotating the nose for a slow full load climb out to the blue skies .

INS VIJAY –AKULA 2 – SOMEWHERE IN PHILLIPINES SEA

Captain Iyer was restless .Today’s sat transmission have been received garbled ,no doubt some goof up with uplink or power bus of the aging Insat satellite. The net result was he will have to surface again after stipulated 4 hours minimum and at least 30 knots away from last surfacing .Which meant either he increase reactor power and generate more of whatever little noise the shark makes underwater or continue at present steady speed of 6 knots for few more minutes and speed up just before surfacing as far away from shipping traffic as possible



This particular shark of Phillipines sea have already detached from the Vikramaditya groups and though its principal task was to sanitize the oceans for the carrier ,her rules of engagement allowed her to engage both ships and subs PLAN if the captain of the ship thought it presented a clear and present danger to the task force .

She needed to authorization to kill once the hostilities are in the open and may be even before that.

Really good work with all the research and scenarios.
Keep it coming Shankar sahib

SOUTH SEA FLEET HEADQUARTERS - ,ZHANJIANG -CHINA

Admiral Zhang Yushu looked intently at the latest high resolution satellite photos taken barely 6 hrs back of the Indian carrier group Virat crossing the Midway atoll. He knew if his plan to invade the Andaman Islands were to succeed both the carrier groups one in the pacific and another in the Philippines sea must be removed effectively. While the Vikramaditya group was more heavily defended and apparently sailing away from the proposed route of the invasion fleet ,the Virat was approaching the possible conflict zone fast .It was also not so heavily defended particularly its air complement of sea harriers were some what dated.

Zhang Yushu thought over the tactical situation and realized it may be just possible to eliminate the Virat led task force with a massive surprise strike in the central pacific using his spanking new Russian destroyers duly supported by anti submarine frigates and some limited support from the land based aircraft of PLAAF if available on time.

After few more cups of green tea and some round of discussions with his staff officers, he issued the necessary operations orders .Within hours four Sovremenny 956EM type destroyers split off from the invasion fleet and turned west wards along with a small flotilla of six anti submarine frigates and a pair of tanker ships on an intercept course towards Midway .

Admiral Zhang Yushu knew surprise is the key to victory in any battle particularly those fought in the open ocean far from any land based supports .His strike plan hinged on surprise and long range supersonic anti ship missiles carried by his destroyers which salvo fired is quite capable of sinking a carrier group in minutes.

WARHEAD - 750 LB.CONVENTIONAL OR 200 KILOTON NUCLEAR
RANGE - 90 MILES
WING SPAN - 6.2 FEET
BODY DIA. - 2.5 FEET
LENGTH - 31.9 FEET
WEIGHT - 9,920 POUNDS
ENGINE - INTEGRATED ROCKET BOOSTER RAMJET SUSTAINER
GUIDANCE - ACTIVE RADAR HOMING SEA SKIMMER
SPEED - MACH 2.5 AT SEA LEVEL

In August 1999, the first of two 8,480-ton Russian Navy Project 956A destroyers built for China conducted trials in the eastern Baltic. Each 956A warship is armed with eight supersonic 3M82 Moskit sea-skimming missiles (NATO code-name SS-N-22 "Sunburn").
The 3M82 MOSKIT anti-ship missile is produced by the Raduga Machine Building Design Bureau located in Dubna. Raduga developed the widely exported SS-N-2 Styx missile which sank an Israeli destroyer during the six day war.
The Raduga Moskit anti-ship missile is perhaps the most lethal anti-ship missile in the world. The MOSKIT is designed to fly as low as 9 feet at over 1,500 miles per hour, faster than a rifle bullet. The missile uses a violent pop-up maneuver for its terminal approach to throw off Phalanx and other anti-missile defense.
Reports of nuclear warheads on the new Chinese anti-ship missiles first appeared inside a new book called "Red Dragon Rising." According to the book's co-author, William Triplett, each Chinese warship is equipped with eight nuclear-tipped, Russian-made Moskit anti-ship missiles--each armed with a warhead equal to over 120,000 tons of TNT.

"The Sovremenny is strictly an offensive platform," stated Triplett during a WorldNetDaily interview. "Ed (Timperlake) and I are the only two Americans that have ever been on a Sovremenny," said Triplett. "It has virtually no stealth. It can't hide. It is intended to attack. The vessel is designed to fire its nuclear tipped missiles and die."

Triplett also openly charged the missiles arming the new warships are nuclear-tipped.

"Each warhead is six times more powerful than the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima," said Triplett. "The new missiles are designed specifically to destroy American carriers and Aegis cruisers with a single nuclear blast."

According to the U.S. Naval Institute, in August 1999, the first of two 8,480-ton Russian Navy Project 956A destroyers built for China conducted trials in the eastern Baltic. Each 956A warship is armed with eight supersonic 3M82 Moskit sea-skimming missiles (NATO code-named SS-N-22 "Sunburn"). The first Chinese warship was built originally for the Soviet navy, as the Vazhnyy in 1988.

The ship was launched in May 1994 and renamed the Yekaterinburg before work was halted. In 1996, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy negotiated to buy the Yekaterinburg and another 956A class destroyer named the Alexandr Nevskiy. The Yekaterinburg is due for delivery by the end of 1999 and the second destroyer by the end of 2000. In July 1999, Richard D. Fisher, a defense analyst for Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., wrote an evaluation of the Russian-built Moskit missile being sold to China. According to Fisher, the U.S. Navy cannot stop the Moskit.

"The Raduga Moskit anti-ship missile is perhaps the most lethal anti-ship missile in the world," wrote Fisher in a review of the Chinese navy.

"The Moskit combines a Mach 2.5 speed with a very low-level flight pattern that uses violent end maneuvers to throw off defenses. After detecting the Moskit, the U.S. Navy Phalanx point-defense system may have only 2.5 seconds to calculate a fire solution--not enough time before the devastating impact of a 750-lb. warhead."

OCEANSAT 2 –OVER SOUTH CHINA SEA

She flew on regardless ,1000 km up in the space ,taking high resolution digital photos of the oceans of the world .particularly those oceans that was of interest to Indian State and stored th digitized information in ultra high density storage devices on board and then when flying over motherland ,dutifully down loaded to an earth station somewhere in central India in less than a minutes . Her today’s best shots showed the PLAN 4 moskit equipped destroyers having split from the main invasion force and taking on a new intercept course towards central pacific ,possibly the island of Midway.

T

Indian navy had just one sure shot defensive system against Moskit
and "fortunately" two of Virats escorting destroyers were equipped with it The anti missile shield around Indian navy carrier force was much more potent than understood by the navies of the world. It was designed not just to eliminate the anti ship missiles but the ships firing them too if required .

PLAN has just taken the bait carefully prepared by Indian navy -hook line and sinker

INS RAJPUT -INS VIRAT TASK FORCE -OFF MIDWAY ATOLL

Commander Saikia,chief engineer , listened to the captains brief quietly. The unfolding battle plan depended on its success maximum power output from the engines and also immediate confirmation of 100% ready status of the PJ-10 missile launch control system since the window of opportunity will be very very small . He also was told to ensure the fleet of Ka 31 are to be ready in all respects including and particularly the broad band data link to ships combat information center.





Up on the flight deck the first pair of sea harriers took off on an extended combat air patrol - this was no more a drill.

PRIME MINISTERS OFFICE –MEETING OF CABINET COMMITTEE ON SECURITY -2010
The chief of naval staff finished his power point presentation which included a short hi definition video on the devastating accuracy of BrahMos anti ship missile fired from a Kashin type destroyer , It also included a comparative range data highlighting the range advantage of Brahmos over Moskit anti ship missiles most likely being carried by the PLAN Sovermany class destroyers ,4 of which were at the moment closing in on Virat carrier group in central pacific.
To summarize, the object of his presentation was to seek authorization for a pre emptive strike on the PLAN task force which if not taken out at maximum engagement range will be a cause of clear and present danger to the carrier battle group through out the likely conflict and can alter the balance of force projection in the decisive battle planned in and around gulf of Thailand in near future .The chief of naval staff was very clear about the strategic situation and his immediate tactical objective
- The 12 odd PLAN combat ships is without any land based air cover in central pacific where as Virat had her full complement of sea harriers with near 100% serviceability
-
- Virat also had with her two Rajput class destroyers equipped with supersonic anti ship missiles having a far greater range than Moskits on PLAN ships
-
- Vikramditya carrier group will be diverted from Philippines sea to central pacific and act as blocking /secondary strike force
-
- The first strike preferably pre emptive must be swift and brutal enough to stun PLAN into having a second thought about the whole invasion plan. For that to happen , the damage to their anti carrier task force must be total and absolute.
-
- It is true the Vikramaditya group will be some what vulnerable to PLAAF strikes as it transits the East China Sea to its designated blocking position in centra pacific. To negate this disadvantage Su-30 MKIs will augment if necessary the air group of Vikramaditya while on transit through east china sea .
Mission objective for the time being was complete annihilation of the PLAN anti carrier task force ,far away from land based air cover and busy shipping lanes . Apart from a crushing moral blow and loss of face to PLAN this objective if met will substantially reduce the air defense cover over the main invasion fleet as it transits the gulf of Thailand, making it wholly dependant on land based air cover from mainland china and consequently easy picking for the Indian maritime strike aircraft.

The discussions and arguments went on for hours .Two specific examples of decisive pre emptive strike was much touted –the Israeli air force preemptive strike in six day war changing the course of the war and Japanese strike at Pearl Harbor which because of factor of luck( the carriers were out at sea ) ultimately made them loose the war in pacific.
The newly elected prime minister took the decision at last – based on the simple logic of CNS that IN not taking the first strike advantage does not mean PLAN will act the same way and loosing a carrier before the war has even started will surely not be a welcome news to Indian public and navy .

The order authorizing CNS to take appropriate actions including but not limited to pre -emptive (conventional )strike was signed as the first lights of dawn started filtering through the drawn window shades. For the first time in decades Indian armed forces had the freedom to act in the nations best interest.

Excellent buildup Shankar saar. Sad we have lost Vivek to commercial projects. Anyway it is good to be back after a long time.

WHITE HOUSE SITUATIONS ROOM –WASHINGTON D.C

- Mr President we have a problem ,the secretary of defense started the morning brief to the most powerful executive on the planet ,the recently elected first African American president of the United States of America

The president did not speak up ,only his bushy brows arched a little to show he was paying maximum attention as the briefing on a possible conflict between two nuclear armed neighbors in the back yard of his nation ,in fact quite close to the US base Midway in pacific .

- Sir we have Chinese navy task force comprising of 4 Sovermany class guided missile destroyers and same number of guided missile frigates with fleet auxiliary ships on an intercept course to Indian navy carrier Virat, presently located 1020 kms south west of Midway .
- Are the Indians aware of the development
- Yes Sir, we think they are fully aware and already taking steps to counter the offensive move of PLAN on their own .Combat air patrol frequency off Virat have significantly gone up in last 24 hrs and all the sea harriers are armed with sea eagle anti ship missiles. Keyhole photos coming in last 6 hrs show the Brahmos supersonic missile launchers on board her escorts are being tested and missiles checked for electronic functionality and sensor reliability
- Also satellite photos show the Vikramaditya carrier group is moving into a blocking position and now transiting the east china sea.
- Mr. Secretary –do you think Indians will do a pre emptive strike
- Mr. President we are not sure ,but that appears to be the only option left to them unless they want to loosed one of their carriers
- What are our assets in the region
- Sir we have Ronald Reagan group leaving Sandiego now and should be around Midway in a few days on their way to Indian Ocean. Carl Vincent group is expected to pass Malacca straits in next 36 hrs on its way back from gulf deployment and can be pushed if required
- You mean to say Mr. secretary right at this moment we cannot put a blocking force in the region quickly
- That is right Mr. President unless we deploy the submarines on central pacific patrol but that may not be a very effective way of stopping the conflict and may in fact worsen the situation if we get involved in the cross fire
- Your opinions Jack ,the president turned to the aged secretary of state
- Mr. President, in my opinion we should stay out of the conflict for the time being. If the Indians manage to hurt the Chinese bad may be it will make them think more than twice about invading Taiwan ,in fact whatever be the outcome of the possible battle in pacific it will do us no harm to stay out of it

The Situation Room is a 5,000 square foot complex of rooms in the ground floor of the West Wing, some of which have windows looking out the west side of the building. It is sometimes called "the woodshed." Contrary to popular belief, the White House Situation Room is not a bunker that is located deep underground.

In 2006, the Situation Room underwent a renovation to bring it up to date with new technology. The main conference room now has six flat-screen televisions for secure video conferences, and the technology linking them to generals and prime ministers around the globe makes it less likely that the encrypted voices and images will go black (which happened regularly in connections to Baghdad). Officials found the old room’s wood-paneled walls too noisy, making it hard to hear for those listening in via video or telephone. The new room has less mahogany and more of what officials describe as "21st century whisper wall."

The NSC watch officers, who were previously seated so they stared at walls rather than each other, are now seated on two tiers of curved computer terminals that can be fed both classified and unclassified data from around the country and the world. And, where the old Situation Room suite had only two secure video rooms, the new one has five and a direct, secure feed to Air Force One, a better fit for President Bush personally. The area also features privacy booths for phone calls, windows with privacy glass (frosted at the flip of a switch), and procedures and technology to prevent unauthorized cell phone calls and text messaging.
During the renovation, workers unearthed several relics of the chamber’s past: from coaxial cables to columns and a frame window left over from the old sunken courtyard that was built by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and later covered by new construction.

The Situation Room was born out of frustration on the part of President Kennedy after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. He felt that he could no longer trust the information coming to him from the various sectors of the nation's defense departments. McGeorge Bundy, President Kennedy's national security advisor created the Situation Room in May 1961. Bundy secured the funds and secured the space: the Truman-era bowling alley was removed. Under the president's orders, every department of the defense sector had to feed the Situation Room staff their information, day and night. Early on, a lone CIA intelligence analyst worked a 20-hour shift in the Situation Room, sleeping on a cot there during the night.

Not all presidents use the room in the same way. John Kennedy spent most of his time during the Cuban missile crisis in the Oval Office or the Cabinet Room and would go down to the Situation Room only to read the teletype. Lyndon Johnson used the room so often during the Vietnam War that he left his Oval Office chair down there. Presidents Nixon and Ford almost never used the room. George HW Bush and Bill Clinton used it often. In most cases, a visit from the president is a formal undertaking. But George HW Bush would often call and ask if he could come in and say hello and see what was happening in the world.

Among the most important changes in the 2006 renovation was the expansion of its use beyond the National Security Council to also include the Homeland Security Council and the White House chief of staff’s office.
A door in the Situation Room gives access to a staircase that leads up to the Swimming Pool cabana, a feature requested by Gerald Ford to allow the first family to enter the pool area without crossing the south lawn.
Everyone sat quietly as the President of United States made up his mind .The Chief executive was brief and to the point as he made known to the world and more particularly to US military establishment what he wants to be done

- I want the pacific fleet and bases to go to DEFCON 3 with immediate effect
- Set up meetings with Indian and Chinese ambassadors in the afternoon
- Instruct our permanent member in UN to raise the issue in security council immediately calling for an immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces from pacific within 48 hrs .


The cogs of international community started moving at last ,but it was too little and too late. The dogs of war were thirsty for blood

A FLASH BACK TO PAST

The seeds of the current conflict in the making was however sown quite some time back when PLAN took delivery of the fourth Sovermenny class destroyer way back in 2006 ,giving it the capability to undertake anti shipping operation far from its home bases.Even then the pacific and indian ocean states were not comfortable will be an euphemestic statement and that included US and India . This was maybe one reason why US did not actively get involved in defusing the crisis at an early stage although they had enough intelligence both electronic and human type to know precisely what was happening . It will not be wrong to say ASEAN countries wanted Indian navy to succeed in taming the growing naval might of the dragon.This geo- political situation allowed Indian forces to have unfettered access to air and naval bases in the region particularly in Philippines and Vietnam which will prove to be a decisive factor in days to come.The USN feigned neutrality also happened to be a refelction of the same scenario

Sorry for buttin in the Scenario's thread but from Shankar's article on the Brahmos:

Was the bolded part actually said by the head of DRDO(If so,it is the coming true of long cherished dream about the yindoos only downplaying the range and so the question)?

sum -check missile thread have posted the full report there

Shankar if possible please include LCAs too in somewhere in this scenario. That would be fun.

I second that. Shankar it will be worth exploring how LCA fare in a real combat scenario. Most of the data how operational LCA will be is already out there in the open. Thanks in advance.

Vivek.. please wake up now.

Hey, I am awake.
I managed to finish and send that book stuff to the publishers without collapsing on the keyboard after two months of intensive work on it.

But Shankar has started a nice scenario here. I thought it wouldn't be correct to butt in now that he has started a good piece of work.

Anyway, I was thinking of the work on a new fresh small scenario that can be finished in the time that I get instead of the mess that I made of the last work.

besides, that question lies with you guys: do you want to parallel running scenarios?

Vivek please keep everyone posted on the progress of the book

Vivek,

Any idea when it is going to come out ? Whats the name of the book ?

Actually, I have sent the book for review at this time. I haven't received a definite yes or no from them but they seemed to be interested.

So at the moment I am keeping my fingers crossed as I wait for their response. Let's see what happens...



Actually, like I said above, I have to wait for details from them. As for the name of the book, I haven't decided yet. I thought if the Publishers like the book and want to publish it, I could turn to all you folks out here for suggestions...

-Vivek

Vivek we are up for parallel scenarios.... Double maazaa . Please give us some heads up about the new scenario you have in mind. A futuristic one in the 2015 time frame involving some of the latest weponary India will have by then will be awesome.

On other notice...is it possible if you can summarize the scenario that you already started. Forget the minor details and please summarize the whole battle in one two pages (at a macro level, with few lines for the outcome of battles in each sector). I believe other brfites will agree for the completion of that awesome scenario. It will be really interesting to see what India has in store for Chinese aggression this time.

And also Best of Luck for your book. Count me as one of your fans and among the first customers of your book.

No wonder vivek is going MIA so many times

INS VIKRAMADITYA – SOME WHERE IN NORTH PHILLLIPINES SEA


Rear Admiral Hyder Ali look at the frothy ocean his ship was cutting across .The weather was real bad for the last 36 hours forcing stoppage of all flight operations .This morning however the sea was calm or at least as calm as you can expect this time of year in Philippines sea and the first CAP flight was ready to take off .He could see the Ka 31 already in air ,scanning the ocean for any possible threat .

The latest satellite communication indicated ,for the time being he is not to take part in active combat as the PLAN strike force approaches the Virat group some where between Midway islands and his present location . His assigned task was to close the PLAN force escape route far from mainland air support and if required take care of any long range support mission if launched by PLAN/PLAAF .
He did not exactly know the total IN strike plan but could surely guess when the support of his force will be required .The Vikramaditya task force had to be positioned for blocking the PLAN escaping ships after the first long range missile strike and also provide a long range defensive air screen against land based aircraft from mainland China
Should they materialize. He also knew in such a situation he will have to field his Mig 29s against Su-27 S /Su 30 s and that will be no doubt a tough battle and success will depend on how quickly sorties can be generated and recovered. His thought got blocked momentarily as the PA system clicked

-clear deck for aircraft launch

Lt Commander Vikas Deshmukh checked his multi functional displays one last time, checked the wheel restraints to flight deck were in position, checked the deck traffic signal was green and switched on the oxygen supply to his face mask

Tower- sea cobra flight lead –request take off clearance
- sea cobra flight lead –you are cleared for immediate take off –turn to 045 immediately on reaching 500 meters – over
- roger that tower – turn to 045 at 500 meters –rolling now

Vikas checked the engine r.p.m and exhaust temperature and then the hydraulic receiver pressure ,everything was sweet and cool ,tightened the harness ,checked ejection handle is armed ,scanned the 14.2 degree ski jump deck for obstruction and then moved the collective all the way to stops as within 3 seconds the rd-33 spooled up to 1005 military power and the aircraft shuddered at the enormous thrust pushing it forward ,the engine rpm was at 98% maximum and exhaust temperature 87% and going up ,on the deck the ground crew have moved back as he pushed the throttle collective past the plastic notch or the reheat gate ,raw jet fuel showered on the hot exhaust alreadt at 620 deg c and burnt with explosive violence adding another 30% more thrust as Vikash triggerd the release and the fulcrum rocketed over the short flight deck and over the ocean without hesitation .Stick pulled up for a 15 degree climb ,undercarriage up and locked ,rolling turn to 045 clearing the take off path for his wing man , increase climb angle to 25 degree as air speed indicator flashed 650 km/hr and altitude 5000 ft ,rate of climb stabilized at 5000 ft/min ,retract flap to cruise configuration as he crossed 7500 ft and reduce climb rate to more sedate 1000mtr/min as he approached the cruise altitude of 5000 meters for the first part of his CAP.

[quote]MiG Corp. started series production of MiG-29K/KUB for Indian Navy Moscow, February 3, 2005 – MiG Russian Aircraft Corporation has finalized, in general, organisation of cooperation and started series production of MiG-29K ship-borne multirole fighter aircraft for Indian Navy. Within the frames of the organized manufacturing cooperation contracts have been signed with the main Russian and foreign sub-contractors, including suppliers of engines, radar, avionics, gear etc. among Russian enterprises are: - “Ramenskoye Instrument-building Design Bureauâ€

Welcome back vivek

I will be the first buyer of Your book, when published.

You have a previously unfinished scenario which you left in the middle. If I remember correctly there were battles in progress in Tawang in the east, a battle in progress in Ladakh. Two air battles in progress, plus you were about to begin a naval cum air battle with Myanmar in the middle.

You have to finish that scenario first. Then switch to any other scenario.

My suggestion is that since Shankar is working on China oriented naval cum air battle with marines as a strike force in Bay of bengal, south China Sea and Midway Islands, you stay clear of this scenario.

You are better of sticking with infantary and air battle for Tawang and Spanggur Lake/Chusul Battle in Ladakh.

Once again, I appreciate you are back.

Good luck


Hari
Toronto

Dude you are gonna have lots of competition for that.

Best of luck.

INS VIJAY –AKULA 2 – SOMEWHERE IN PHILLIPINES SEA

Captain Iyer was restless like always .Today his problems were many .One of the reactor control rod movement servo motors have burnt out and needed replacement. The towed array sonar gear needed seal replacement and a mandatory radio activity level check all throughout the sub manually was overdue even though automated system with redundant sensors were in place . Added to that the torpedo room have reported problem with the loader arm all needed to be attended and done with before taling care of the PLAN submarine threat in the region –which no doubt was considerable.

In the former Soviet Union/Russia, 247 nuclear submarines and five nuclear-powered surface ships were built in the period from 1955 to 1996. In addition, a nuclear reactor which can be installed in diesel powered submarines was also built. Nuclear powered naval vessels are in service with the Northern Fleet (2/3) and with the Pacific Fleet (1/3), but have never been assigned to either of the other two Russian Fleets (the Black Sea Fleet and the Baltic Fleet.) Until the end of the 1980s, the Soviet Navy had more nuclear submarines than all other countries put together. As a result both of the START II disarmament treaty and the high age of some of the earlier generations of Soviet submarines, 138 Russian submarines are now no longer operative. This number is expected to increase over the years to come as more of the aging classes of submarines are decommissioned and dismantled. At the present time, there are 67 nuclear submarines and two nuclear-powered battle cruisers in service with the Northern Fleet, while in the Pacific Fleet, there are 42 operative nuclear submarines, one nuclear powered battle cruiser, and one nuclear powered communications ship.

Soviet nuclear submarines are designed by three main design bureau's, each of which has several subdivisions. The first Soviet nuclear submarine was designed by Special Design Bureau No. 143 (SKB-143). This bureau later merged with SKB-193 and SKB-16 and formed Malakit Design Bureau in St. Petersburg. SKB-143 designed the Project 627 A-November class, Project 645 ZhMT, Project 671 - Victor class, Project 705 - Alfa class, Project 971 - Akula class and Project 661 - Papa class attack submarines. Rubin Central Marine Designs Bureau (SKB-18) in St. Petersburg designed the Project 658 - Hotel class, Project 659/675 - Echo I-II class, Project 667 - Yankee and Delta I-IV classes, Project 941 - Typhoon class, Project 685 - Mike class and the forthcoming Project 885 - Severodvinsk class submarines. The construction bureau Lazurit (STB-112) in Nizhny Novgorod developed the Project 670 - Charlie class and Project 945 - Sierra class nuclear sub In the former Soviet Union, nuclear submarines were built at four different shipyards. One of these, Sevmash (formerly shipyard No. 402) in Severodvinsk, has been operative since 1955. The Amursky Yard (formerly shipyard No. 199) at Komosomolsk-na-Amur was operative from 1957, and has a subdivision in Bolshaya Kamen near Vladivostok. Nuclear submarines have also been built at Krasnoye Soromovo (formerly shipyard No. 112) in Nizhny Novgorod and at the Admiralty Yard (formerly shipyards No. 194 and 196) in St. Petersburg since 1960.

At each of these four shipyards, approximately five to ten nuclear submarines were built a year until 1992. Today, only the Severodvinsk yard is in operation with a maximum production of one or two submarines a year. Of the four yards, Severodvinsk turned out the largest number of nuclear submarines with a total of 127 vessels. Komosomolsk-na-Amur produced a total of 56 submarines, 39 were produced in St. Petersburg and 25 in Nizhny Novgorod. Some of the submarines built in Nizhny Novgorod and St. Petersburg were transported by the Volga and Karel canals to Severodvinsk for completion, ostensibly weapons fitting and reactor equipment

The first generation Soviet naval submarines included: Project 627 A - November class, 658 - Hotel class, 659 - Echo-I class and 675 - Echo-II class. In total, from 1955 to 1964, a total of 55 first generation nuclear submarines were built. There were 13 November class, 8 Hotel class, 5 Echo-I class and 29 Echo-II class vessels. With its three ballistic nuclear missiles, the Project 658 - Hotel class submarine, K-19, was the first strategic submarine of the Soviet Union. K-145, a submarine of the same class, was refitted a few years later to carry six ballistic nuclear missiles. The Echo-I/Echo-II class submarines each carried eight cruise missiles. Some of the Echo-II submarines were rebuilt to be able to carry mini submarines. By 1992, all first generation nuclear submarines had been dec From 1964 to 1974, the Soviet Union built 34 Project 667 A - Yankee class nuclear submarines. These submarines each carried 16 ballistic nuclear missiles with a range of 3000 kilometres. Having been constructed under the same fundamental principles as the American submarine class George Washington, they consequently received the NATO classification "Yankee". Of these 34 submarines, 10 were assigned to the Pacific Fleet and 24 to the Northern Fleet. The Yankee-class submarines are no longer operative and are presently being dismantled.

The Project 667 B - Delta-I class submarines are a modified version of the Yankee class submarines. These submarines have been modified to carry 12 intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles with a range of 9000 kilometres. Considerable improvements were made to the navigation systems. With the possession of intercontinental missiles, it was no longer necessary to patrol the American coasts. Missiles directed at the American continent could be launched from submarines stationed just off the Kola coast or from patrolling areas beneath the polar ice cap. The successors to the Delta-I class submarines, Project 667 BD - Delta-II, Project 667 BDR - Delta-III and Project 667 BDRM Delta-IV were fitted with 16 intercontinental missiles with a range which enabled them to be launched directly from the submarine's base. These later models of the Delta class were also developed to be considerably quieter than their Yankee and Delta-I class predecessors. This was in direct response to the American construction of the SOSUS listening network, which is a network of submerged cables for the purpose of detecting Russian submarines. The network was laid along the east and west coasts of the United States as well as along the coasts of northern Norway, Greenland, Iceland, the Faeroe Islands and Great Britain. A total of 43 submarines of Delta I-IV classes were constructed from 1971 to 1992.

Other second generation nuclear submarines include the Project 670 - Charlie class and Project 671 - Victor class. These submarines were developed simultaneously with the Yankee class. There were 17 submarines in the Charlie-I-II classes, while a total of 48 Victor I-III class submarines were built. A number of these are still in service. The Charlie class submarines are fitted with cruise missiles, and their main purpose is to counter hostile aircraft carriers and surface ships. Submarines of the Victor classes are attack submarines whose objective is to counter enemy submarines. These vessels are also the first Soviet submarines to be equipped with only one pressurized water reactor.[ Today, almost all of the Yankee class submarines have been decommissioned. The other second generation nuclear submarines are gradually being replaced by third and fourth generation submarines. Commissioned.

Construction of the first class of third generation nuclear submarines, the Project 941 - Typhoon class, began in 1977, and the first of these vessels was taken into service in 1981. By 1989, six Typhoon class submarines had been built, and the vessels in this class are definitively the world's largest submarines, carrying 200 nuclear warheads each. The Typhoon class submarine was developed to ensure the Soviet capability of massive retaliation in the event of a nuclear attack. A seventh Typhoon class submarine was under construction at the Severodvinsk shipyard, but the work was halted, ostensibly due to the political changes in the Soviet Union towards the end of the 1980s.

The third generation of submarines is substantially improved, both in reactor technology, additional and improved electronic equipment, and quieter machinery compared to previous generations of submarines. In 1980, the Northern Fleet's first submarine in the new Project 949 - Oscar I class, went into service. The Oscar class of submarines carry cruise missiles and were designed to hunt down and sink hostile aircraft carriers. The first Project 949 A - Oscar-II class submarine came on stream a few years later. Four attack submarines of the Project 945 - Sierra class, were taken into use between 1984 to 1993. These vessels have a titanium hull. In 1990, an improved version of the Sierra class, the Project 971 - Akula class came into operation. This is the quietest and most modern submarine in the Russian Navy. Some of the earliest of the Akula class submarines have been modernised to further reduce the noise level, and the most recently built vessels have been improved to such an extent that they are even quieter than those that were commissioned in 1990. These submarines are classified Akula II and are 4 metres longer than the earlier vessels of the Akula I class. Of the third generation nuclear submarines, only the Project 949 A - Oscar-II class and Project 971 - Akula-II class joined the fleet much later
Fuel assemblies for Russian submarines with pressurised water reactors are produced at the machine building factory in Elektrostal outside Moscow. Fuel assemblies for the liquid metal cooled reactors on submarines of the Project 705-Alfa class and Project 645 ZhTS were produced at the Ulbinsky Metallurgical Works in Ust-Kamenogorsk in Kazakhstan.
The reactor core in Russian nuclear-powered submarines consists of between 248 and 252 fuel assemblies, depending on the type of the reactor. Most Russian nuclear-powered submarines have two reactors. Each fuel assembly contains tens of fuel rods, and these vary from the traditional round rods to more advanced flat rods. The flat fuel rods are used particularly in the more recent generations of reactors. The point of the flat fuel rod is to enlarge the surface of each fuel rod so as to improve the thermal efficiency. Most of the uranium fuel assemblies are clad in steel or zirconium.
The enrichment of fuel in pressurized water reactors varies from 21% 235U in first generation reactors to 43-44 % 235U in third generation reactors. The enrichment of the fuel assemblies stolen from a storage facility in Andreeva Bay in 1993 was said to be 36%, and were suitable for insertion into third generation nuclear reactors. The fuel assemblies stolen from a storage facility in Rosta the same year were enriched to 28%, and were suited for submarines of the Project 671 RTM-Victor-III class. The fuel of some pressurised- water reactors have even higher enrichment than this. The Project 1941 - Kapusta class nuclear powered communication ships of the Pacific Fleet have reactor cores with an enrichment of 55-90%. The enrichment of fuel in liquid metal cooled reactors can be as high as 90 percent U235. Some submarines have probably utilised fuel of a different enrichment than is standard for the reactor on an experimental basis.
The reactor cores of third generation nuclear powered submarines contain fuel assemblies of varying degrees of enrichment. The fuel assemblies in the middle of the reactor core are enriched to 21% 235U, while the outermost fuel assemblies are enriched as much as 45% 235U. The reactors of third generation nuclear submarines contain approximately 115 kilograms of 235U. The reactors on second generation submarines contain a total of approximately 350 kilograms of uranium, of which 70 kilograms are 235U. A standard reactor core of a first generation nuclear submarine has a total of approximately 250 kilograms of uranium, of which 50 kilograms are 235U. These are also the quantities stated for each reactor dumped in the Kara Sea while still containing its nuclear fuel.

For each reactor type, there is an almost identical list outlining the risk of nuclear accidents or dangers in radiation exposed work. These lists are derived in various radiation protection documents, and outline procedures with the highest risk of exposure to ionising radiation.
Nuclear accidents may be characterised in their entirety under the following criteria:
• Start and progress of an uncontrolled chain reaction
• Problems in cooling the reactor core
As a result of such an event, the crew could be exposed to higher than permitted doses of radiation or the fuel assemblies in the reactor could be damaged such that it can no longer be used. Methods for preventing these kinds of situations are developed by the designers of the reactors, and the Navy is responsible for seeing that these rules are followed.
Included in the list of high risk operations are start up and shut down of the reactor, and routine procedures carried out while the reactor is running, such as taking hydraulic samples and water samples from the primary circuits. In addition, there is the risk of accidents during the monitoring of gases and the monitoring of functional and complex systems of control and safety.
Past experience indicates that the most high risk work is in refuelling the reactor, for the following reasons:
• The work is done by many different people with varying levels of qualification for the work at hand;.
• Approximately 50 different technical operations are carried out during the process, 25 percent of which may potentially expose the operators to radiation.
The most dangerous situations during the removal of spent nuclear fuel are as follows:
• Disassembly and mounting of mechanisms for control and safety systems;
• Disassembly and mounting of the reactor lid;
• Removal and replacement of fuel assemblies;
• Refilling of primary circuits in the thermal system and testing of hydraulics;
• Connecting, adjusting and checking of safety devices;
• Manual checking for movement of the compensation register;
• Reactor start up, measurement of neutrons and thermal measurements and checking.
n the 1990s, a safer method was developed for removing spent nuclear fuel from pressurised water reactors on submarines. First, the reactor tank is emptied of the water before the work begins. This water slows the neutrons inside the reactor. By removing the water from the tank, the risk of an uncontrolled chain reaction in the reactor core is reduced. The drawback with this method is that the level of radiation in the reactor compartment increases dramatically because there is no longer any water present to moderate the neutrons. Subsequently, extra measures must be taken to prevent the exposure of the workers to radiation. Hence this method of defuelling can only be carried out on submarines that have been laid up for a number of years whereby the level of radiation has decreased naturally.
The construction and start up of new nuclear-powered submarines also entails operations involving risks of radiation exposure, as is also the case when restarting a reactor which has been in for repair or modernisation.
The operations entailing a risk of exposure to radiation are primarily:
• Installing the uranium fuel into the reactor;
• Mounting and adjusting the control and safety systems of the reactor;
• Removing samples from the primary cooling circuit and the reactor core;
• Starting up the reactor, and the first trial of equipment.
Other related high-risk operations:
• Collection of radioactive waste during operation;
• Compression, sorting and burning of solid radioactive waste;
• Temporary storage and transport of radioactive waste;
• Deactivation of contaminated equipment and purification of radioactive gases.
Today, the start up of new naval reactors takes place at the shipyards in Severodvinsk. Newly refueled reactors are started up at the shipyards on the Kola Peninsula or in Severodvinsk

- captain sir , we have a situation ,the voice of his first officer came over the intercom and Iyer reverted to his intended role ,that being the commander of a ship of war from being a technocrat manager - a group of three unidentified submarines have been detected by sonar ,slowly approaching the Vikramaditya group from south west and his executive decision was awaited at the combat control station

ddd

INS VIJAY –AKULA 2 – SOMEWHERE IN PHILLIPINES SEA

captain sir , we have a situation ,the voice of his first officer came over the intercom and Iyer reverted to his intended role ,that being the commander of a ship of war from being a technocrat manager - a group of three unidentified submarines have been detected by sonar ,slowly approaching the Vikramaditya group from south west and his executive decision was awaited at the combat control station

In the combat information centre deep in the bowels of the nuclear attack submarine the tension was almost a physical entity. There was no time second thinking as CAPTAIN Iyer took on the active command of the ship about to get into its first battle far far away from the shores of warm homeland

-con –sonar –have multiple unidentified subs –course 285 –range 14000 meters-engine noise suggest possible kilo class- speed 7 knots

Iyer had to think fast and think correct .The three kilos are undoubtedly PLAN since all Indian kilos have been restricted east of Malacca straits. Their present position will allow them to launch missile strike on Vikramaditya in a matter of hours .He knew getting to attack mode without permission from eastern naval command may not go down well with his superiors but again he was not paid to watch the old carrier blown to oblivion just because there was no clear cut operational directive

- xo do we have a clear firing solution on all the three kilos
- negative captain
- change course 270 –make speed 15 knots
- changing course 270-speed coming up to 15 knots repeat 15 knots

Captain Iyer wanted to spook the 3 PLAN kilos so that they spread out giving him a clear fire solution on all three at the same time. It was important he gets all of them at the same time if not tracking a single kilo in pacific would not be a good idea and the danger to carrier group will persist

Behind him, inside the triple sealed reactor core the boron control rods moved up by few mm and the coolant pumps speeded up ,prodded by the electronic signal from the engine console . The shark responded immediately .As th seven bladed propeller revved up creating a smooth wake the metal beast surged forward in a new direction and at higher speed spooking its prey into panicked movement

May be a stupid question

What are odds that none of those three Kilos will detect the Akula itself?

Sudhanshu,
Kilo at 7 Kt and Akula at 15 kt- Detection probability in my opinion is even money. Also, the Akula was tracking the Kilos before it was detected. The idea probably is to spook the Kilos into attacking you rather than the career. Since Akula has a greater speed and diving depth, the chances of it comming out alive are that much higher. More so since all the three will not be able to attack the Akula simulteneously for the fear of interferring with each other's torpedoes. Even if the Akula dies, the ruckus created will alert the career which has it's own ASW assets. So I don't think Shankar's scenario is off.

Thanks for the answer, I just felt like something unlikely hence asked.

Let's see what Shankar has in store. I prey Akula doesn't have to sacrifice itself for the Career. After all we all love Captian Iyer

What implications will it have from the Russian angle if one of the akulas get destroyed by Chinese subs. Hiding in deep ocean and firing the nuclear tipped missiles is one thing but actively taking part in a war zone is a completely different one. So couple of obvious questions come to mind. Do India has to pay the full price minus the leased amount for the Akulas if India end up losing one of the leased subs? Is India even allowed to take the Akulas in active war zone? I believe russians are smarter than that. So what are the chances that they might have some clause in the lease agreement just for such a scenario?

We would say "Sorry" to them after the war is over.. (just kidding)

Folks,

The Akulas would be Indian property once we have leased them. From what is been said they would be on end of life lease.

Well if that's the truth, its very much in India's interest to sacrifice the akula before any harm comes to the AC and if akula is indeed going down, take as many Chinese subs with it. Well Shankar is playing god here. Only he decides who got to live to see another day. I has really started liking the captian of akula. Nice character development. Keep up the good work Shankar. As a side note vivek you are again deserting your fans in the middle.

[quote="mdhoat"]
Well if that's the truth, its very much in India's interest to sacrifice the akula before any harm comes to the AC and if akula is indeed going down, take as many Chinese subs with it. /quote]

The Akula won't be sacrificed. Its too precious to be sacrificed.It will have some gold plated super secret defense against the Kilos. Don't be surprised if it uses some brand new super speed torps to take out those Kilos too. Just my guesses based on Shankar's previous writing.

But Mihir patriotic sentiments aside, don't you think taking on 3 Kilos at such close range is asking to much from one lone Akula. The only thing that can save Akula is some super quite technology which might help it stay undetected just long enough to have the surprise element work on our side. And also Mihir I read somewhere that we are leasing Akulas on a ten year lease. Is it ten years or a life long lease?

The lease period can be increased later. Rusi navy won't want used subs for themselves. Taking on 3 subs for a single sub won't be so difficult. It will depend on the Akula taking out all three Kilo at single go.

Mihir that kind of thinking looks good only in scenarios. Imagine for a sec had we all been Chinese and discussing all this on a Chinese forum. Are we still gonna give Akula so much advantage. Yes agree Akula's are a generation ahead of Kilo's but upgraded Kilo's are not a rollover either. And even if Akula did shoot at the three kilo at single go, what are the chances they won't retaliate back and also will all torpedo's find their mark on 3 kilos, they will definitely deploy counter measures? Even if they haven't detected Akula yet, the moment Akula shoots, it will give away its position and they should realistically shoot back. Unless there a big operational or tactical twist to the confrontation, it looks real filmy single Akula cleanly taking 3 kilos out in single blow and coming out without a scratch.

INS VIJAY –AKULA 2 – SOMEWHERE IN PHILLIPINES SEA

Some would have called the strike plan of Captain Iyer suicidal ,his intention to take on the three kilos simultaneously but then they did not know the capabilities of akula-2 ,its weapon load ,its sensor performance and the power generated by its VM35 reactor .which can propel it to speed far in excess of 33 knots official figures ( in a classified trial the akula 2 reportedly crossed 40 knots at 250 meters depth ).The akula 2 can operate in depths where no kilo will ever think of going and go there at speeds which will remain beyond any kilo commanders operating dream scenario.

Captain Iyer knew his ship and knew its potential .This he planned to use to fullest in the coming battle which he knew will be decisive and in which he had no intention to loose.

After more than six hours of deft maneuvering he was at last in a position where he wanted to be, on the stern quarter of the three kilos and at 10000 meters plus from the nearest kilos . After the initial burst of speed, to spook the kilos into dispersal he has reduced to 5 knots and now almost invisible rather in audible to the kilos now desperately trying to locate him

Captain Iyer to over command once again for the final phase of the battle

-captain has the con
- Sonar –con do you have clear fire solution on all three targets
-aye captain at last we have track separation –track 1101 designated sierra one –course 015- speed 9 knots – kilo class confirmed

Track 2202 designated sierra two – course 022 turning –speed 6 knots –kilo class confirmed

Track 3303 –designate sierra three – course 025 –steady – speed 8 knots

-weapon centre –con – load tubes 1 2 3 4 - take 1101 with number one weapon - 2202 with number 2 weapon – 3303 with number three weapon

- do not flood tubes now – do not open outer door –confirm loading completion and feeding of fire solution
- aye captain

- xo I want to move up to point blank range before firing of the torpedoes and fire off track at less than 2000 yards

- engine –con- make speed 12 knots -maintain present course –stand by for maximum power evasive moves if required after weapon release –check and confirm noise makers ready for immediate deployment

- xo we need to get comfortable off track before turning back in and firing

The Akulas MGK 540 sonar system operator was now earning his pay .The state of the art sonar system which operates in both broad and narrow band allows target detection and ranging by active mode as well as can be used in passive listening mode .The sonar signal processor can detect and automatically classify targets ,in this case the three PLAN kilos and reject spurious acoustic noise sources and also automatically compensate for variation in acoustic conditions of the oceans

- sonar –con –range to targets
- con –sonar – sierra one – 2400 meters – course 016 steady –sierra two – 2150 meters – 024 steady –sierra three –course 025 – steady
- very well –torpedo room –con –stand by to fire tubes one two and three in sequence
- xo stand by to deploy two noisemakers immediately after weapon release
- con –sonar looks like sierra two have detected us and getting ready to fire
- PING the first blast of active sonar from sierra two hit the akula
- sonar –con –go active – firm up the fire solutions and feed to ready torpedoes
- aye captain
- PING –PING high powered low frequency acoustic pulse from the Akula blasted through the quite of the ocean catching its multiple prey naked and open
- Con-sonar firing solution obtained on all three targets and fed
- Very well –torpedo room –con – flood tube one and open outer door

]The high pressure water from the flood tanks splashed into the tube through the flooding valves and the air escaped thru the tube vent into air tank

- con –torpedo room –tube one ready to launch – tube flooded and outer door open
- very well –weapon – match bearing and shoot
- con –weapon –tube one fired –running true and straight
- Torpedo room –flood tubes two and three and open outer doors
- Engine stand by for max speed evasion
- Con- torpedo room –tube 2 and 3 ready in all respects –firing solution fed and outer door open and tube flooded
- Con-weapon – match bearing and shoot tube 2
- Con-weapon –tube 2 fired –running true and straight
- Weapon –con –match bearing and shoot tube 3
- Con weapon –tube 3 fired –running true
- Con-sonar – weapon 1 has gone active –impact in less than 10 seconds –
- Con sonar weapon 2 and 3 both have gone active –outer door opening on sierra two –possible weapon launch

- Con -sonar all three torpedoes have gone active
- Engine –con – max combat power now
- Helmsman make your depth 450 meters –course 230 –speed 35 knost
- Weapon- deploy noise makers immediately
-Captain –sonar we have multiple explosion in target area

One by one the three distinct explosion shook the ocean as Captain Iyer was busy steering his precious ship away from the danger zone to the safety of depth and distance .

The 533 mm torpedo hit the first kilo just behind the tower ripping open the pressure hull and thousands of liters of sea water started pouring in immediately. The second kilo was caught with its outer torpedo tube door open and the heavy 533 mm torpedo hit smack into the weld joint between the hull and tubes one of the weakest parts in any submarine blowing it open inwards .Everyone on board died instantly. The last kilo was some what lucky with the torpedo earmarked for it going for the propeller, blowing it off the mount .The PLAN commander wisely decided to surface. But the water inflow was too large to manage with onboard battery operated pumps. Once the water level reached the battery room, the pumps stopped and the fate of all the crew and the submarine was sealed in a watery grave. Echoes lonely terrible echoes from the depths of ocean flooded the sonar room of Indian nuclear powered attack submarine for almost a minute .Death came to 200 odd PLAN sailors quietly and quickly. The kilos were deemed invisible when alive and they would remain so in death several kilometers down the depths of Philippines sea. It will be at least 48 hours before the South fleet command will get alerted to the fate of these kilos and by then the Indian shark of the deep will be long gone –maybe setting up its next strike.

Shankar

No Offence , but this last scnario seems a bit comical . it would have been more realistic if any of the Kilo woukld also have detected the Akula as Captial iyer was planning to fire the torpedoes at a range of 200 meteres only .

wonder if indian kilos when faced with PLAN Jiang Class SSn's would undergo same fate .

it would have been better if out of three one would have detected akula amd we cold have witness Counter measures capability of shark too