Indian Nuclear Submarines -3

[rohitvats]

Rohit,

Do we have a list of IA missile regiments inclduing smerch and brahmos?

I created a list based on bits and pieces of information lying around the net. All complete open source. But this is something I've been reluctant to discuss for obvious reasons.

[SaiK]

Birth Of A Boomer: How India Built Its Nuclear Submarine
Rakesh Krishnan Simha - October 23, 2016, 9:23 am
Shares 793

Birth Of A Boomer: How India Built Its Nuclear Submarine
SNAPSHOT
INS Arihant is ready for operations. Here is the story behind the journey of the submarine from an idea an 1971 to a prowler in India’s seas in 2016.

During the 1971 War, as India’s armoured columns crashed through the Pakistan Army’s defences and thundered down the road to Lahore, the US and British navies made a threatening pincer against India. While the US Seventh Fleet sailed menacingly towards Kolkata, a British flotilla from Madagascar steamed towards Mumbai. It was the timely arrival of the Russian Pacific Fleet – comprising warships and nuclear submarines – that prevented a joint American-British attack on India.

Because of the West’s interference in the war, India could not achieve a key aim – the destruction of Pakistani armour on the western front. The incident impressed upon the Indian political leadership the need for a nuclear submarine fleet to ward of future gunboat diplomacy. As noted by Eric Arnett, a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, “The history and implications of (nuclear powered submarines) for Indian maritime strategy suggest that the US presence in the Indian Ocean was a stronger motivation for the programme.”

Completing the triad

Almost 45 years after those dramatic December days, the Indian Navy’s indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant has been declared ready for operations. India is now only one step away from acquiring a second strike capability in the event of a nuclear exchange. The final phase involves the arming of the Arihant’s torpedo tubes with either the 700 km range K-15 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) or the 3500 km K-4. After nuclear warheads are mated to these missiles, India will finally be able to complete its nuclear triad, giving the country’s war planners multiple options if it comes to a nuclear confrontation.

A nuclear triad refers to the three components of atomic weapons delivery: strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and SLBMs. The third leg of this triad is of great significance to India. If a first strike cripples the nuclear missile force as well as the air force, then the INS Arihant can launch retaliatory strikes that will render the attacking country unfit for human life.
[more of the irradiations - Thorium is in the maal]

Submarines of this class are known as sub-surface ballistic nuclear or SSBNs – aka boomers in the parlance of sailors – and are the best guarantor that a sneak nuclear attack will not destroy the country’s ability to strike back. Lurking in the valleys and ridges at the bottom of the ocean and constantly moving, a single SSBN is enough to sow doubt in the enemy’s mind that some strategic missiles will be launched in retaliation.

According to Richard Sharpe of Jane's Fighting Ships, a nuclear submarine will give India a "colossal advantage" over its neighbours. “Facing a nuclear submarine is a nightmare; it has unlimited endurance and mobility and there's no place for a surface ship to hide,” he writes.

Race begins

India initiated work on a nuclear powered submarine in 1974 – three years after the 1971 War. However, typical of Indian defence projects, the project never quite achieved traction. Although the navy was involved, the project was from the start under the thumb of the civilian Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Way over its head in a project it couldn’t begin to fathom, the DAE failed to come up with a nuclear reactor that could operate on the rough seas.

According to journalist Praful Bidwai, the DAE’s original design of 1975 proved totally unviable and had to be abandoned after about Rs 100 crore was spent on it.

“The DAE learnt no lessons from this disaster,” Bidwai says. “Indeed, when a critic with a reactor engineering doctorate, then navy Captain B.K. Subba Rao, voiced his doubts about its design, he was victimised. He was arrested on his way abroad for an academic conference and charged with espionage – an accusation he successfully disproved after long periods in jail.”

By the mid-1980s the project had soaked up as much as Rs 2500 crore in research and development costs. Bidwai says the project failed because the agencies concerned couldn’t fabricate high-quality components and equipment, plus the constant interference from the civilian bureaucracy certainly took its toll.

Russian tech arrives

The project was re-launched in 1985 under Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) co-ordination, with the codename Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV). With a retired vice admiral in charge, work on a prototype reactor began at the Kalpakkam nuclear power plant near Chennai.

“But the project was still not getting anywhere,” says V. Koithara in the book Managing India’s Nuclear Forces. “India then sought and got much more substantial Russian help than had been envisaged earlier.”

Russia helped with another significant aspect – crew training. Even as ATV development was plodding along, India prepared for operating an SSBN by leasing a Charlie class nuclear-powered submarine, renamed INS Chakra, from Russia in January 1988. However, the pro-American government of Boris Yeltsin refused to extend the lease and the sub returned to Vladivostok in January 1991.

By 1996, when India had spent $285.7 million on the nuclear submarine, work on the project came to a crawl because of pressure from the US. In fact, pressure started coming from the unlikeliest of places. The Federation of American Scientists says ASEAN also wanted India to stop work on the ATV as a condition for entry into the trading group and for India to be invited to future Asia-Europe summits. The European Union was behind the demands put up by ASEAN.

What was happening was that by stopping Moscow from selling key technologies to India, the Americans hoped to starve Russian industry of much needed funds. The other intent of this plan was to curtail India’s ability to develop strategic weapons. This not only had the effect of creating a rift between Russia and India, it also allowed the Americans a foot in the door in India’s huge defence market.

However, with the exit of the pro-American elements in the early 2000s, [who ? ]the Russians came back in full strength. While Russian designers assisted in building the vessel, which is based on the Akula class hunter killer submarine, its nuclear-powered 80MW pressurised water reactor was developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre with assistance from a design team from Rubin, the Russian submarine-design bureau.

Although the reactor was “designed, fabricated and executed in India” by Indian industry and under the direction of Indian scientists, the chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, Dr Anil Kakodkar, told the media in 2009: “I would also like to thank our Russian colleagues. They have played a very important role as consultants, they have a lot of experience in this so their consultancy has been of great help so that I think we should acknowledge.”

Birth of the boomer

On July 26, 2009 India began the Arihant’s construction in a purpose built facility in Visakhapatnam. There were no further technical – or more importantly, geopolitical – glitches. On December 15, 2014, the 367 ft vessel was finally launched. It is a measure of how zealously India guards its strategic submarine that when the jet black beauty sailed out of the naval dockyard, the navy and air force deployed their MiG-29K and Su-30 MKI combat jets around the harbour while the Poseidon P-8I maritime surveillance and attack aircraft from the nearby naval base at Arakkonam sanitised the area for any hostile underwater activity. Further, warships from the Eastern Command provided protective cover.

Because boomers are strategic weapons with the power to destroy entire nations, they are closely guarded state secrets. In fact, the exact date when the Arihant first flew the flag is classified. Former admiral Arun Prakash told IANS: “Its mission is to be a nuclear deterrent. Everything to do with the submarine will be a secret. Its movement, position and location will not even be known to the navy. It is not a normal ship. Though we would like to show it off, we cannot.”

Future SSBN fleet

India still has a long way to go before it can claim to have a true and complete nuclear triad. For foolproof deterrence, one SSBN should be underwater at any given time, which means the Indian Navy requires a minimum of three SSBNs in the fleet. China currently has four SSBNs, and may have eight in service by 2020.

Two other Arihant class boats are currently under construction. The first of these boats is the INS Aridhaman codenamed S-3, with the Arihant being S-2.

[ S-1?]
The 6000 ton Arihant class submarines are considered babies when compared with the real leviathans of the ocean such as the Russian Borei class boats which measure an incredible 574 ft and can dive to nearly half a kilometre. A single Borei carries 16 ballistic missiles with enough independently targeted warheads to destroy 200 cities.

The next generation of Indian SSBNs, designated S-5, will be launched in the 2020s and will be significantly larger. But it will be decades before India attempts to build boomers that can rival those in the Russian or US fleets.

It is a measure of how seriously India is taking its nuclear triad that it is negotiating the lease of a second nuclear powered attack submarine from Russia. This is reportedly the 8140 ton Kashalot – one of the fastest and deepest diving undersea boats in the world. According to the website RusNavy.com, the submarine achieved a Russian Navy record in the summer of 1991 by trailing foreign submarines for over 14 days without being detected.

India’s attempt to shift its deterrence undersea has faced innumerable difficulties. From the beginning, the US placed every possible roadblock to curb India’s ambitions. But with the thaw in the relationship, Indian scientists routinely use American and Japanese supercomputers for submarine design.

However, some in the West are still holding on to the vestiges of the Cold War. For instance, in 1988 when the Indian Navy got its first Akula sub, one Western military observer said: “India wants to take over the mantle of the British raj.” Three decades later, on March 26, the US condemned India for testing its 3500 km range K4 SLBM. Going back to its old script, the State Department criticised India’s “nuclearisation” of the Indian Ocean.

It’ll take a few more boomers to get the world used to India’s undersea deterrent.
http://swarajyamag.com/defence/birth-of ... -submarine
Note: Image used is for representational purposes only and is not of INS Arihant

[prasannasimha]

S1 was the land based reactor at Kalpakkam
Edited to correct iyi

[vera_k]

Yeltsin was president until 1999.

[Vivek K]

A very pro-Russian article. So the press puts out either pro-Russian or Pro-West garbage. When will we see something that is peo-Indian? Probably never from these Presstitutes!!

[arshyam]

^^ Not disagreeing, but IIRC Swarajya did ask BRF to contribute some blog related articles. And apart from a few that I know of (JEM, Mihir, etc.) no one else seems to have stepped up. What stops us from authoring Indic PoV articles?

[pkudva]

S1 was the land based reactor at Kudamkulam

Its Kalpakkam.

[Philip]

So one cans see clearly from the article,who our real friend ahs been and who are so-Called friends are,who have been trying to sabotage India's N-programme for decades,the US,Britain and EU!

The Modi govt. should realise in its "tilt" towards the US,seen in recent times,that a time will come-has come in fact ,when the tilt will have to be in the other direction,towards our constant friend Russia.

[prashanth]

The Modi govt. should realise in its "tilt" towards the US,seen in recent times,that a time will come-has come in fact ,when the tilt will have to be in the other direction,towards our constant friend Russia.

It is not a zero sum game. Russia's help is required for development and acquisition of cutting edge weapon platforms like INS-Arihant, Sukhoi-MKI, INS Chakra etc, whereas US help is/was required to get Nuclear deal, entry to NSG, MTCR etc. Roles mentioned above cannot be exchanged and it appears both US and Russia are fine with the arrangement. Ultimately, India's interests are fulfilled without antagonizing either of US or Ru.

[tsarkar]

@Rohit - Possible since Prithvi production ended in 2009. I believe even the IAF squadron(s) operating Prithvi have moved to BrahMos - there was a BrahMos TEL handover to ACM Raha sometime earlier.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... ndian-army

"With the induction of the land based weapon complex for the Indian Air Force, BrahMos has now been successfully inducted into all the three wings of the Armed Forces," an official statement said.

[ramana]

When was Capt. Subba Rao arrested?

[ShauryaT]

When was Capt. Subba Rao arrested?

IIRC: Early 90's. Man his tale is a sorry one. Because of his experience, do not know sometimes how much of his critiques are real or driven by his angst. But really sorry, he had to go through. Have read his saga, really sad. Not BARC's finest hour.

[svinayak]

When was Capt. Subba Rao arrested?

IIRC: Early 90's. Man his tale is a sorry one. Because of his experience, do not know sometimes how much of his critiques are real or driven by his angst. But really sorry, he had to go through. Have read his saga, really sad. Not BARC's finest hour.

http://indianmavericks.blogspot.com/200 ... -case.html
It was late 80s

[Paul]

Frontline

An editorial note on Dr. Subba Rao
THE writer is a former Indian Navy Captain, who took voluntary retirement in October 1987 after a distinguished active service of about 25 years. He hails from a village called Hastinapuram, a hamlet of Chirala on the East Coast of India. He was born on March 28, 1941 in a poor family of handloom weavers. A top-ranking student, he stood first in the Andhra University in Electrical Engineering before joining the Indian Navy in 1963. In the 58-week advanced weapon electronic course, he stood first and became senior to all his batch mates in the Navy. He was a specialist in computer aided control systems of guns, missiles and torpedoes and also in radar, sonar and radio systems. During his active naval service, he served in several anti-aircraft and anti-submarine ships and naval establishments including the Naval Dockyard, Mazagaon Docks and Naval Headquarters, New Delhi, and received five war medals. He also won the following special awards for his inventiveness in improving the existing fighting devices of the Navy, and his achievements in the field of computer technology, electrical engineering and control engineering.
In March 1985, Subba Rao took his Ph.D at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay for his thesis "Nuclear Power Plant Modelling and Design Multivariable Control Approach".
After Dr. Subba Rao retired from service in the Navy and readied himself for academic pursuits (in the field of algebraic geometry) and consultancy work related to his expertise in the computer technology field, he was dealt a terrible blow by a paranoid establishment, leading to a harrowing three months in a police lock-up, 21 months in jail, prosecution on charges of espionage and violation of the Official Secrets Act (and the Atomic Energy Act), and, eventually, honourable acquittal. Dr. Subba Rao's contention in court was that he had done nothing wrong in taking with him on board an aircraft a copy of his doctoral dissertation, a public document. It was based (with the permission of the Navy) on his work on a submarine and did not contain anything pertaining to an existing nuclear facility or one that was proposed to be designed. In acquitting him honourably, Justice Michael Saldanha of the Bombay High Court "said in effect that the prosecution had played fraud" (to quote from 'Ordeal of a Navy captain', a report published in The Hindu on December 4, 1991).
In 1995 Dr. Subba Rao became an advocate. At present he spends approximately 70 per cent of his working time in providing consultancy in control systems and computer systems, and the remaining 30 per cent in appearing in High Courts and the Supreme Court of India in public interest petitions and also to plead the cases of resourceless persons facing injustice.

[sudeepj]

When was Capt. Subba Rao arrested?

IIRC: Early 90's. Man his tale is a sorry one. Because of his experience, do not know sometimes how much of his critiques are real or driven by his angst. But really sorry, he had to go through. Have read his saga, really sad. Not BARC's finest hour.

A few years back, a former US ambassador to India wrote a book in which he outed Subbarao as an American agent. He described meeting Rajeev Gandhi and explaining to him that the submarine in question (Chakra 1) was a Russian system and as such a legitimate target for American intelligence. After that story came out, Subbarao's case simply became untenable.

One must remember, that the govt. usually has a lot of covert intelligence that cant be disclosed in an open court. Sometimes what is presented in the court looks flimsy, but the govt. has good reason to thoroughly prosecute the case and even obtain convictions.

[Marten]

IIRC: Early 90's. Man his tale is a sorry one. Because of his experience, do not know sometimes how much of his critiques are real or driven by his angst. But really sorry, he had to go through. Have read his saga, really sad. Not BARC's finest hour.

A few years back, a former US ambassador to India wrote a book in which he outed Subbarao as an American agent. He described meeting Rajeev Gandhi and explaining to him that the submarine in question (Chakra 1) was a Russian system and as such a legitimate target for American intelligence. After that story came out, Subbarao's case simply became untenable.

One must remember, that the govt. usually has a lot of covert intelligence that cant be disclosed in an open court. Sometimes what is presented in the court looks flimsy, but the govt. has good reason to thoroughly prosecute the case and even obtain convictions.

The real tragedy of India is that we will happily and readily believe a US Ambassador despite knowing the coldwar time mindgames played on us. We have no issues dismissing any cognitive dissonance and will happily perform mental calisthenics to agree with Massa and his messenger.

Dr Subbarao was a victim of our success in collaborating on a very key project for India.

[tsarkar]

IIRC: Early 90's. Man his tale is a sorry one. Because of his experience, do not know sometimes how much of his critiques are real or driven by his angst. But really sorry, he had to go through. Have read his saga, really sad. Not BARC's finest hour.

A few years back, a former US ambassador to India wrote a book in which he outed Subbarao as an American agent. He described meeting Rajeev Gandhi and explaining to him that the submarine in question (Chakra 1) was a Russian system and as such a legitimate target for American intelligence. After that story came out, Subbarao's case simply became untenable.

One must remember, that the govt. usually has a lot of covert intelligence that cant be disclosed in an open court. Sometimes what is presented in the court looks flimsy, but the govt. has good reason to thoroughly prosecute the case and even obtain convictions.

Not quite - the American writer exact words were he was unsure about Subba Rao's real affiliations, and his intention was to get an American from the embassy released.

If Subba Rao betrayed Naval secrets, he would've faced a court martial. The civil suit was filed by DAE in a civil court. And that was thrown out because his thesis and other trade journals contained publicly available information.

And Subba Rao's assessment of BARC reactor was validated by CNS Admiral Ronnie Perreira.

Because the Navy is a silent service, not many know about Admiral Ronnie Perreira - who is the best CNS IN ever had. He is as respected as Cariappa/Thimmaiya/Maneckshaw/Sunderji are.

[tsarkar]

From our Wingco Unni Kartha

http://www.salute.co.in/remembering-ronnie/

Late Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, ex ‘Chief Of Naval Staff’ (CNS) is an illuminating chapter in Indian Naval history. It has almost been twenty years since he passed away. However, his memory still lingers and helps stiffen the spine of men, some young and some old, even those not from the Navy. Ronnie’s memory makes them march with pride and affection, whistling ‘Auld Lang Syne’. So what is it that these men remember about Ronnie ‘The Man’, and his incredibly gracious wife Phyllis?

Ronnie was born as a chirpy, bouncy, very huggable baby at Kannur, at the northern tip of Kerala about fifteen years before World War-II. Like all zestful young boys, he grew up in rural India with simple and achievable ambitions, either to be a doctor like his father, or become a dentist. But somewhere during his teen years, the salt laden sea breeze in Kannur and the hype of World War-II instilled in him a wander lust, quest for adventure, a perception that soldiering was more interesting than doctoring. He was drawn to the Navy, like fish to water.

He was commissioned into the Royal Indian Navy on his 20th birthday (May 25, 1943), given command of a homemade, quickly fitted out, leaky wooden fishing trawler masquerading as a gun boat, with a dozen sailors as raw as Ronnie, and immediately sent to fight the might of the Japanese Navy in the ‘Bay Of Bengal’. And fight he did, all his life, with just about everyone except his wife Phyllis whom he married in 1952. He had two exceptionally strong character traitsintegrity and moral courage. He stood up for what he believed was the ‘right thing’ and never let anyone bulldoze him.

HE WAS COMMISSIONED INTO THE ROYAL INDIAN NAVY ON HIS 20th BIRTHDAY (MAY 25, 1943), GIVEN COMMAND OF A HOMEMADE, QUICKLY FITTED OUT, LEAKY WOODEN FISHING TRAWLER MASQUERADING AS A GUN BOAT, WITH A DOZEN SAILORS AS RAW AS RONNIE, AND IMMEDIATELY SENT TO FIGHT THE MIGHT OF THE JAPANESE NAVY IN THE ‘BAY OF BENGAL’.

Like most of us, he often made mistakes. However, unlike most of us, he made those mistakes his stepping stones; unlike most of us he tortured himself to learn from those mistakes. As he grew up through the ranks of the officer cadre, first in the Royal Indian Navy, and then our own Indian Navy, he acquired tenacity, fortitude, resilience, charisma, a towering stature, a booming laughter that immediately endeared his subordinates to him, portrayed his self confidence, his merriment and spirit of adventure. At the pinnacle of his Naval career, he was appointed CNS and called upon to command the growing Indian Navy. While he grew up, and as CNS, he did this and that, went hither and thither, sailed about the oceans and trawled about Naval HQ, but unlike most, he was always at ‘Full Ahead’ with a sense of purpose and with utmost dedication. As Anil Kumar (now veteran) remembers, Ronnie would often say, ‘it’s your prerogative to have a Navy, and mine to run it’. His unflinching on matters military and national security or those which affected the operational efficacy or morale of his men are legendary. He never ever asked anything for himself. He had only one thought, ‘what can I do for the country and the men whom I command’. He was from the rare breed. Wow,….. what a man.

In due course, he retired. He simply went home to a house called ‘At last’ in Bangalore, drove around on a ‘Lambretta’ scooter from which he often fell off, broke most of his bones, caught cancer and died on Oct 14, 1993 at the age of 70 without once changing his colours on integrity and moral courage. He was an extraordinary mortal, a sailor’s sailor, with a contagious sense of honour and love for soldiering. Apart from the multitude of Admirals, Generals and Air Marshals, junior service officers in uniform crowding his funeral service, there was also a large gathering of ordinary sailors and civilian officials who came to say farewell to an ‘officer and gentleman’ they’d loved like no other. As his body was being laid to rest, they recalled the way he often summed up the essence of leadership: ‘Love your men, but don’t spoil them. Kick them if you must. Above all, make them proud of themselves, their uniform, the country and you’. What more can I say about Ronnie, the incredible, unforgettable CNS ? Oh…….I can say a million more words with conviction and affection, but I have a brief to keep this short.

He was an extraordinary mortal, a sailor’s sailor, with a contagious sense of honour and love for soldiering. Apart from the multitude of Admirals, Generals and Air Marshals, junior service officers in uniform crowding his funeral service, there was also a large gathering of ordinary sailors and civilian officials who came to say farewell to an ‘officer and gentleman’ they’d loved like no other

Let me begin with what venerable Adm Arun Prakash, himself a later day venerable CNS, had to say of Ronnie. Prakash recalled, ‘In a world of slipping ethical standards, where our young people desperately seek role models, Ronnie stands out as an iconic figure of impeccable integrity for three generations of Indian naval officers. While we quaked in the knowledge that any hint of wrongdoing would invoke the admiral’s messianic wrath, the kindness and compassion that he and Phyllis Pereira so often showed, earned them the Navy’s lasting love and admiration’. Adm Prakash made two glaring omissions in his eulogy. Firstly Ronnie stands out as an iconic figure of impeccable integrity not only for the Indian Navy, but is folklore for the Army and Air Force too. Secondly he earned the lasting love and admiration of not just the Naval personnel, but an incredible number of others in and out of all sorts of uniforms.

Amongst the many who still love and worship him are Cadets(Cdts) of the National Defence Academy (NDA), where he was Dy Cmdt in early 70’s, where he kicked butts and turned a whole generation of juvenile delinquents to socially useful and upright gentlemen. The very generation who now form the top echelon of the Army, Navy and the Air Force. This is therefore an eulogy not from Naval history, ward room tales, or chewing the cud by old Naval crabs, but a eulogy by the old goats who went on to wear the drab Olive Greens, Khakis and Blues, even from the ones who never wore a uniform because of him, all of them illustrious men in their own right. This is a eulogy by the ones who were fortunate to have been within arms distance of Ronnie, even for a few seconds. He touched all our lives, kicked our butts, breathed wit and wisdom into our ears and gave us a steady course to steer during the turbulent weather and heavy seas of our youth.

Air Cmde (Retd) M.M. Ali says …….. ‘I was Dy Dir Gen NCC of Karnataka and Goa Dte in late 90’s when one day an old lady walked up four floors to my office’, the lift was not working. After catching her breath she introduced herself. ‘I am Phyllis Pereira, the wife of late Adm Pereira’. I jumped out of my chair and stood to attention. ‘It is a pleasure to see you Mam’, I said with genuine warmth. ‘I came to thank you’, she said. ‘You see, I was crossing the road when a scooter knocked me down and three NCC girls in uniform who were returning from the parade helped me get up and cleaned me with the drinking water from their water bottles. They helped me cross the road. I have come to thank you for teaching the children the right values. I thanked the girls but forgot to ask their names’, she said with guilt, accompanied by an irresistible endearing smile. What should one say to a woman like that, except ‘Wow, Wow’. If she was like that, what would the husband & wife team have been like? Any guesses?

Ronnie’s rapport with the young men made him the ideal choice as Dy Cmdt of the NDA in 1971. He ran the place like one of his ships, seemingly everywhere, exhorting the cadets to play fiercely, study hard and march smartly. Nothing escaped his attention. ‘It wasn’t unusual for bleary-eyed cadets to stumble into the tea-room at dawn to see their Dy Cmdt tasting the dog biscuits or tea’, says Col (Rtd) Kelly Vishwanathan. So harddriving was he, weary cadets often joked, that if he barked ‘Quick March’ to the ‘Ashoka Pillar,’ it would start marching. Because Ronnie and Phyllis never had any children, they came to love every young man they met in NDA, especially the mavericks who were sent to him for displeasure. Ronnie addressed them as ‘Son’, a tradition that came to be in all services. Ten whole courses in NDA vied with each other to be called their ‘Son’, it was an honour for the Cdts. Although being at the NDA meant that Ronnie, to his great disappointment, had to sit out the 1971 war, his tenure there is still remembered by all his cadets, now senior service officers, as if NDA was Ronnie’s personal ‘Longewala’, a war zone. ‘He had a very clear vision of what an officer and gentleman ought to be’, says GS Malhi, now an accomplished veteran. ‘Above all, he wanted us to be mentally agile and morally upright, like himself’.

“I learnt so much from him,” recalls veteran SPS Bhalla, who was closest to Phyllis and Ronnie, almost an adopted son. ‘He advised me on all kinds of things, from the importance of treating my wife as an equal partner to the need to accept personal responsibility’. Once afterwards, when Bhalla boasted about what a good golfer he had become, Ronnie a keen golfer himself chided him rather dryly. ‘Please remember that your handicap does not figure in your confidential report, work well, as much as you play well’. His advice was significant, especially because Golf and the card game ‘Bridge’, and not work, was usually the route to career advancement even in those days.

One of the most undisciplined cadets during Ronnie’s time in NDA was Anil Mago, now veteran, who had already spent 9 terms instead of the usual 6. There was this time when Cdt Mago was relaxing in his Juliet Sqn cabin in a towel, while the rest of the academy was in class, when the indomitable Ronnie decided to make a surprise round of JSqn. If ‘caught’ Cdt Mago would have been thrown out of NDA for sure. Some smart thinking, and in a jiffy, Mago was in the clothes of Cdt Orderly Prabhu Dayal, sitting in the corridor outside his cabin with a ‘Gandhi’ cap, polishing drill boots. Prabhu Dayal in his underpants and vest was sent to hide in the toilet. Ronne was not fooled while he walked past briskly. ‘Good thinking Cdt Mago’, Ronnie barked. ‘I like people with imagination and quick reaction’, Ronnie swept past without stopping. He knew each of the 1500 odd cadets by face, by name and their antecedents and could not be fooled. Soon Mago was in trouble again and was marched up to Ronnie, then officiating as Cmdt. Mago was destined for relegation. Ronnie knew that if Mago was relegated again, he would be thrown out of NDA. As he was marched in, Ronnie roared. ‘Hold it right there Son. Your one foot is in my office and the other on a banana peel outside. Beware and evaporate’, he commanded. Mago did a smart about turn and ran for his life. He never, ever, slipped on a banana peel again and went on to become a very successful and decorated Artillery officer, just as Ronnie knew with clairvoyance. Ronnie was an incredibly sane and kind man and not at all officious or a mindless disciplinarian when special occasions called for it.

Air Vice Mshl M Bahadur recollects that when the local theatre in Poona would not lend prints of the movies ‘Patton’ and ‘Tora Tora’, for local screening in NDA auditorium, Ronnie took the whole NDA, about 1500 Cdts, to Poona simultaneously, in proper military fashion, in cycle squads like marching columns on Raj Path, supervised by Divisional Officers on scooters and motor cycles with a cycle repair truck, ambulance and a doctor in tow. Ronnie himself went from intersection to intersection, directing the traffic. There were ‘Nimbu Pani’ and sandwich stalls all along the way, an incredible feat of military logistic support planned and executed by him. ‘If Mohammed would not come to Mountain, I have brought the Mountain to Mohammad’, Ronnie commanded the owner of the theatre. ‘You are going to show us the movies free of cost. After all, these boys have to go and fight a war to help keep our enemy at bay’. Bahadur says that when Patton came on the screen, he perceived him as Ronnie.

Otherwise, Ronnie was quick to distribute very exhaustive physical punishments (‘Restrictions’ and his favourite ‘Singarh Hikes’), instantly demote cadet appointments, all of it with advice that juvenile delinquents never forgot. It helped pupa to turn to butterfly. He once caught a Cdt appointment punishing junior cadets wearing a dressing gown. He gave him a dressing down and de-tabbed him on the spot. ’Always be in uniform when you have to punish someone’, Ronnie counselled him. ‘Uniform gives you the authority, without it you are no body’. Ronnie was everywhere, ‘Omni Present’, ‘Omni Potent’, on horseback, on cycle, and sometimes hiding behind bushes, far before the cadets awoke and far beyond the time when they slept. He was always in his smart white uniform. To the last man, all Cdts of that generation remember him and eulogize him as a kind and generous man, a father to love and to cherish, though he was their nemesis.

‘Wow, Ronnie Pereira, I remember him very fondly’, says Anjit Bose (now an AF veteran) who was one of the worst of the juvenile delinquents converted to honourable citizen by Ronnie by stick and carrot. ‘Ronnie was a guy I would follow to the end of the earth. He nicknamed me ‘Goonda Bose’ in my second term in NDA after watching me fight in Novices Boxing. Well he was a smoker, and I was a smoker, looks like I got caught every time I took a puff, and as per Ronnie I was not old enough to have his privileges, so he kicked my butt and I loved it’.

Another veteran Rajan Phadke recalls, ‘Ronnie came by E-Sqn on a cycle one evening and caught me smoking. He asked me to keep reporting to him in different NDA dress, every hour and all night. At 8 in the morning I reported to his house in ‘Mufti’. When I reached his ‘Peacock Bay’ residence Phyllis was tending to the lawn. ‘Were you the one who was ringing the calling-bell all night?’ she asked kindly. ‘You must be hungry’, she said and offered me a sumptuous breakfast. ‘Ma, I was caught smoking’, I confessed to her without guile, and pointed at the 555 State Express cigarette packet lying on the table. She laughed aloud, like bells pealing. Ronnie came out to the lawn, and promptly lit a cigarette. ‘You are too young to smoke, wait till you are a few years older’, she counselled. ‘I know you are always on punishment’, Ronnie commented, ‘When you last went to Poona on Liberty?’, he asked with concern. ‘I don’t remember Sir’, I stammered. ‘It has been a year or two since I was let out of prison’, I told him with a quarter guard smile. Ronnie stared at me silently for a while. Afterwards he sent me on parole, ‘Liberty’ to Poona, in his own staff car, since I had already missed the 0930 bus. He even gave me pocket money to see a movie. I did not know whether to laugh or to cry, but that was the last time I broke the law.

Ronnie taught Johnson Chako and Nagendra Malik (both veterans now) to swim, simply by making them jump off the 10 mtr board and not allowing them to grab the sides of the pool. Ronnie in full Naval regalia walked along the sides of the pool, kept egging them on. ‘Kick your legs, stroke your arms, keep going’ he kept roaring like a lion. And when they did finally reach the other end of the pool, he declared them ‘Swimmers’ and gave them a pat on the back, equivalent to winning a ‘Param Vir Chakra’, they were just 17 years old.

Phyllis Bedell Pereira, now close to 90, has dementia and Parkinson and no relatives left except a grand nephew of Ronnie. She is cared for in an austere old age home in Bangalore run by the Catholic Sisters of Charity with no ostentation. Phyllis is in incredibly good health, but remains confined to bed. Quite possibly because without Ronnie for steerage, she has nowhere to go, she is probably like a boat that has beached. However, if she sees a man in uniform, she gets up immediately and says ‘He is my Son’. She starts beaming. She is sad when he leaves.

I can go on and on……., the tales from those who now sit at the top floors of Service HQs as well as subordinate formations, heads of corporate houses, entrepreneurs, retired veterans, all of them stalwarts in every walk of life. But I will simply and humbly say, ‘Ronnie Sir, we love and cherish your memory. Even in death you are closer to us than the distances that you have chosen to go. You shall live on, till the last of us who love you, and owe you, fall in our own mortality’. God bless you ‘Ronnie Sir’ and Phyllis ‘Mom’.

The author Wg Cdr Unni Kartha VSM (Retd) is an erstwhile test pilot and normally writes with the pseudonym “Cyclic”

And a Reader's Digest article http://documents.mx/documents/adm-rl-pe ... -1998.html#

[sudeepj]

A few years back, a former US ambassador to India wrote a book in which he outed Subbarao as an American agent. He described meeting Rajeev Gandhi and explaining to him that the submarine in question (Chakra 1) was a Russian system and as such a legitimate target for American intelligence. After that story came out, Subbarao's case simply became untenable.

One must remember, that the govt. usually has a lot of covert intelligence that cant be disclosed in an open court. Sometimes what is presented in the court looks flimsy, but the govt. has good reason to thoroughly prosecute the case and even obtain convictions.

Not quite - the American writer exact words were he was unsure about Subba Rao's real affiliations, and his intention was to get an American from the embassy released.

If Subba Rao betrayed Naval secrets, he would've faced a court martial. The civil suit was filed by DAE in a civil court. And that was thrown out because his thesis and other trade journals contained publicly available information.

And Subba Rao's assessment of BARC reactor was validated by CNS Admiral Ronnie Perreira.

Because the Navy is a silent service, not many know about Admiral Ronnie Perreira - who is the best CNS IN ever had. He is as respected as Cariappa/Thimmaiya/Maneckshaw/Sunderji are.

Lets try to pull up that excerpt again. My recollection could be flawed.. At the same time, when govts. go after such cases with what appears to be 'over enthusiastic' zeal, its likely that they have evidence that they simply cant present in a court because it comes from a confidential source, or because its related to counter intelligence and divulging it would disclose that specific technique etc.

[suryag]

His son Vikram buddhi was later imprisoned in the us

[tsarkar]

At the same time, when govts. go after such cases with what appears to be 'over enthusiastic' zeal, its likely that they have evidence that they simply cant present in a court because it comes from a confidential source, or because its related to counter intelligence and divulging it would disclose that specific technique etc.

If the charge was serious, the Govt would've Court Martialled him under Navy Act 1934 and 1957 where no such secrecy concerns exist instead of a civilian court.

[Marten]

Sir, he had already retired by this time. Let me put this way - I'm acquainted with folks who knew him for years. Ask anyone who went to INS Valsura and they would tell you the same. His account was at Bank of India Museum branch, and I have met him there as a child. His son is not of relevance in this conversation but he might have been adversely affected by what happened to his father. For the record, I also have close relatives at BARC who will not talk about the Captain. All I heard was that he came across as arrogant and rubbed some folks the wrong way. Beyond that, not in a position to judge his innocence or guilt AFTER the court acquitted him. Folks who are proclaiming him as a spy are doing themselves and this country a disservice.

[uddu]

The Swarajya report has this
According to journalist Praful Bidwai, the DAE’s original design of 1975 proved totally unviable and had to be abandoned after about Rs 100 crore was spent on it.
That makes the news report itself so irrelevant and can be ignored.

[svinayak]

Sir, he had already retired by this time. Let me put this way - I'm acquainted with folks who knew him for years. Ask anyone who went to INS Valsura and they would tell you the same. His account was at Bank of India Museum branch, and I have met him there as a child. His son is not of relevance in this conversation but he might have been adversely affected by what happened to his father. For the record, I also have close relatives at BARC who will not talk about the Captain. All I heard was that he came across as arrogant and rubbed some folks the wrong way. Beyond that, not in a position to judge his innocence or guilt AFTER the court acquitted him. Folks who are proclaiming him as a spy are doing themselves and this country a disservice.

Uncle was trying to do psychological operation warfare by going public about this incident.
Indian govt was under pressure with public scrutiny. This will make govt to stop the work

Similar tactic on the ISRO case to keep the govt under pressure and govt will yield by stopping the work.

[ShauryaT]

At the same time, when govts. go after such cases with what appears to be 'over enthusiastic' zeal, its likely that they have evidence that they simply cant present in a court because it comes from a confidential source, or because its related to counter intelligence and divulging it would disclose that specific technique etc.

If the charge was serious, the Govt would've Court Martialled him under Navy Act 1934 and 1957 where no such secrecy concerns exist instead of a civilian court.

The Navy eventually did support him in his case. The charges of him being a spy are just that ridiculous. Also, the blog that sudeepj referred to Maverick/SunilS is a known "defender" of BARC's institutional position and is not beyond spinning words. He is erudite and intelligent. Just leave it at that, it was not BARC's finest hour. Let BARC speak through their work, I want them to deliver on the promised thorium fuel cycle - lagging in industrial execution and my next reactor for an SSN!! Also, it is high time the direct handling of the DAE by the PMO ends and the DAE be subject to more scrutiny and institutional checks and balances. It will do them some good.

[Marten]

OT: The only red flag was that Somnath Bharti of AAP defended Vikram.

[krishna_krishna]

Gurus: Is this Arihant at 00:28 onwards or am I wrong :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q_SQ439BP8

[Bheeshma]

Nope. Shishumar class.

[krishna_krishna]

^^ did you watch the video ? I am talking at 00:27-:0028 there is an SSBN to me very distinct possibility of Arihant

[Karthik S]

^ That hump looks like it could be Arihant.

[Bheeshma]

If that is an SSBN then chinese or russian double decker like Delfin class. Don't think it its Arihant. Also flag is not IN's.

[krishna_krishna]

To me the flag also resembles IN ?

[kurup]

^^^ That is a Chinese SSBN probably Type 094 not Arihant .

[disha]

^^ Bunch of clips tied together. There are clips of 3 or 4 submarines in that video. You have chinese and russians with the name of germans!

[Gagan]

Chinese sub.

[AdityaM]

More on Late Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira

http://documents.mx/documents/adm-rl-pe ... 1998.html#

[Aditya G]

http://164.100.47.192/Loksabha/Question ... 19&lsno=16

MINISTER OF STATE (DR. SUBHASH BHAMRE)
IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
????? ????? ?????? (??. ????? ?????)

..... The Indian Navy has a total force level of 139 ships and submarines, comprising 16 submarines, 2 aircraft carriers and 111 other ships for carrying out various roles of Indian Navy.

May I suggest the names of the 16?

Code: Select all

Class	Ship Pennant	Ship Name
Akula (NATO)	S71	INS Chakra
Arihant Class	S-2	INS Arihant
Arihant Class	S-3	INS Aridaman
Sindhughosh Class	S55	INS Sindhughosh
Sindhughosh Class	S56	INS Sindhudhwaj
Sindhughosh Class	S57	INS Sindhuraj
Sindhughosh Class	S58	INS Sindhuvir
Sindhughosh Class	S59	INS Sindhuratna
Sindhughosh Class	S60	INS Sindhukesari
Sindhughosh Class	S61	INS Sindhukirti
Sindhughosh Class	S62	INS Sindhuvijay
Sindhughosh Class	S65	INS Sindhurashtra
Shishumar Class	S44	INS Shishumar
Shishumar Class	S45	INS Shankush
Shishumar Class	S46	INS Shalki
Shishumar Class	S47	INS Shankul

[Aditya G]

http://164.100.47.192/Loksabha/Question ... 19&lsno=16

MINISTER OF STATE (DR. SUBHASH BHAMRE)
IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
????? ????? ?????? (??. ????? ?????)

..... The Indian Navy has a total force level of 139 ships and submarines, comprising 16 submarines, 2 aircraft carriers and 111 other ships for carrying out various roles of Indian Navy.

These are 14:

Class Ship Pennant Ship Name
Shishumar Class S44 INS Shishumar
Shishumar Class S45 INS Shankush
Shishumar Class S46 INS Shalki
Shishumar Class S47 INS Shankul
Sindhughosh Class S55 INS Sindhughosh
Sindhughosh Class S56 INS Sindhudhwaj
Sindhughosh Class S57 INS Sindhuraj
Sindhughosh Class S58 INS Sindhuvir
Sindhughosh Class S59 INS Sindhuratna
Sindhughosh Class S60 INS Sindhukesari
Sindhughosh Class S61 INS Sindhukirti
Sindhughosh Class S62 INS Sindhuvijay
Sindhughosh Class S65 INS Sindhurashtra
Akula (NATO) S71 INS Chakra

Which leaves us 2 more

Since Sindhurakshak is still in commission, it confirms that at least INS Arihant is in service.

[pkudva]

2 Aircraft Carriers???

INS Vikrant is not in Service.

Only INS Vikramaditya is in Active Service.

[hnair]

pkudva, INS Viraat is around