Hyderabad, July 22: The Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam is gearing up for a unique milestone in India’s defence history on July 26 wherein Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will launch the indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine that is tentatively named INS Arihant.
July 26 is celebrated as ‘Vijay Diwas’ which marks India’s triumph over Pakistani intruders in Kargil. Launch of the indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine has been planned for July 26 to coincide with Vijay Diwas. A host of Navy and defence officials are expected to grace the occasion.
Though the Navy authorities haven’t yet officially confirmed the programme, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy announced the Prime Minister’s visit to Visakhapatnam after a meeting with the latter in New Delhi late last week.
A senior Navy official told PTI over phone from Visakhapatnam that everything related to the event was being taken care of by Navy higher officials in New Delhi.
“Right now we have no information about the event as such,” the Navy official added. Said to be built under the Advanced Technology Vessels (ATV) Programme at a cost of 2.9 billion USD at the Naval Dockyard in Visakha patnam, the 6,000-tonne submarine will be put on sea trials for two years before being commissioned into full service. In the two years, the submarine will also undergo harbour trials of its nuclear reactor and other systems.
–Agencies