Nuclear Submarines in South Asia: New Risks and Dangers

Abstract

The South Asian nuclear race is moving to sea, with India's government announcing that it has successfully put nuclear weapons at sea, and evidence suggesting that Pakistan is preparing to do so. This article traces India's decision to deploy nuclear-powered submarines, some armed with nuclear weapons, and the debate in Pakistan on the utility of nuclear-armed submarines and the possible acquisition of nuclearpowered submarines. The article then reviews the global history of submarine accidents, especially those where nuclear-powered submarines were involved, and looks in particular at the consequences of a potential naval reactor accident where radioactivity might be released into the environment. Such naval reactor accidents constitute a major but unappreciated challenge associated with the deployment of nuclear submarines in addition to new pathways for escalation to nuclear war that are more widely recognized.

Stealth-Spectacles: The Discursive Waves of the Nuclear Asian Seascape

“…Antony stated that INS Arihant supports India's No First Use nuclear weapons policy (Sakhuja nd). But such statements are hinged on moot contradictions -both specific to India and generic to all nuclear submarine fleets (see Mian, Ramana, and Nayyar 2019).…”

“…However, while popular culture absorbs, perpetuates and domesticates dominant discourse, it is simultaneously a corrosive arena for the rise of resistance, opposition and alternative narratives as Gramsci (1971) had foretold. Intrigue needs to turn into critique across the board with regards to the acceleration of nuclear submarine fleets across the seas, and the relative ease of obscuring any submarine mishaps or dangers in the deep ocean (see Mian, Ramana, and Nayyar 2019).…”

“…Others have doubted this account 'for the submarine has no hatches there. INS Arihant is based on Russian double hull design which has a sealed nuclear reactor section' (See Mian, Ramana, and Nayyar 2019). See 'Indian Nuclear Submarine Grounded after Hatch left Open', The Times of Israel, 10 January 2018. https://www.timesofisrael.com/indian-nuclear-submarine-grounded-after-hatchleft-open/and The Trouble with India's Slow Naval Buildup -Analysis".…”

“…On an overview of submarine accidents as a result of explosions, floods and collisions from 1945, see ChristopherTingle (2009). A list of accidents worldwide can be accessed here http://www.asse.org/assets/1/7/Tingle_Table1_0909.pdf See alsoHøibråten, Thoresen, and Haugan (1997),Weber (2017),and Mian, Ramana, and Nayyar (2019).…”

Pakistan's Perspective on Nuclear Deterrence in South Asia

“…India's advancing K-Missile Family and the deployment of nuclear submarines for sea-based second-strike capability through submarine-launched missiles (SLBMs) are stimulating Pakistan to acquire the parallel in standards (Mian, 2019). These submarines are captive to conceal in the ocean during an attack, to launch a retaliatory response even if the victim country has been made unable to wage a land-based reciprocal strike (Afzal, 2018).…”