The Secret of Nuclear Submarines | World's Most Extreme Technology | Indian Navy
Picture yourself on a ship at sea, relishing the fresh and invigorating sea breeze. Suddenly, a remarkable sight unfolds before you a colossal missile emerges from the water. Not just any missile, but a nuclear missile with the capability to reach a target on the other side of the globe, spanning thousands of kilometers. This isn't a mere imagination; it's a reality today, thanks to submarines. The footage you just witnessed was a test of a Trident 2 missile conducted by the US Navy, launched from a US Ohio-class submarine.
The Trident 2 falls under the category of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), representing one of the most formidable weapons globally. These SLBMs boast an estimated yield of 475 kilotons, a stark contrast to the 12-13 kiloton yield of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Presently, these potent weapons are housed within submarines, stealthily traversing the world's oceans in highly classified, undisclosed locations. In today's blog, let's delve into the intricacies of these submarines understanding the technology that propels them and unravelling their operational mechanisms.
Fundamentally, all submarines operate based on Archimedes' principle, a concept likely familiar from school. As an object sinks, it experiences a buoyant force equivalent to the weight of the fluid displaced due to this object's sinking. When a submarine's weight matches that of the water it displaces, it achieves a level of neutral buoyancy. Allowing it to maintain a constant depth.
When the objective is to submerge, the gravitational force applied must exceed the buoyant force, prompting the use of ballast tanks. Typically, these two tanks are located at the submarine's ends, they are filled with air at the surface, enabling the vessel to float. To descend into the water, these ballast tanks are flooded with water, increasing the submarine's weight and initiating the descent. Such scenarios are labelled to have negative buoyancy. It indicates the control of a submarine's depth by adjusting the water level in its ballast tanks.
This mechanism governs vertical movement for ascending and descending. For lateral movement, such as turning sideways in the water, a Rudder is employed. It looks like this. It is known as a Vertical Rudder. This facilitates horizontal movement in the water. Similar rudders are used in boats, ships, and aircraft. Additionally, forward and backward motion is achieved through the use of a propeller, essentially a fan.
While navigating underwater, a reliable means of orientation is essential. Sonar technology serves this purpose. It operates based on sound. There are two main types of sonar technologies: active sonar and passive sonar.
Active sonar involves emitting sound from the submarine. The sound travels through the water, collides with objects, and upon reflection back to the submarine, the time and distance calculations provide information about the submarine's location and the surrounding environment.
In contrast, passive sonar does not emit sound but rather detects sounds from other sources, such as enemy submarines, by listening to their engine and propeller noises to determine their distance.
However, the use of sonar technology has adverse effects on marine life, impacting creatures like whales and dolphins, which also rely on sonar for communication. To address this concern, some submarines are exploring alternative technologies such as LiDAR, Light Detection and Ranging.
LiDAR employs light to estimate distance and is already integrated into many modern smartphones. Another alternative is using RADAR Radio Detection and Ranging, it is effective above water and in aircrafts which utilizes radio waves to calculate distances.
but is limited underwater due to the restricted transmission of radio waves. Lastly, emerging technologies are being explored as potential alternatives like MRS Magnetic Anomaly Detection System or Gravitational Anomaly Detection System. However, the bottom line is that today, the predominant technology employed in submarines is Sonar.
Multiple Sonar sensors are strategically installed around submarines to continuously collect and monitor data, ensuring there are no obstacles or hazards in their path.
Typically, an armed military submarine consists of three levels or decks. This blog will mostly focus on military submarines, as they constitute the majority of submarines worldwide. It's worth noting that the designs of research and tourism submarines may differ.
The topmost deck of a military submarine is typically outfitted with torpedoes, which serve as weapons. The lowest deck houses battery rooms that supply electricity to the submarine, and sandwiched in between are the diesel machine, motor room, and the nerve center known as the control room.
Positioned above the control room, you'll usually find a conning tower an essential component serving as the submarine's attack center. The conning tower is equipped with various instruments, including periscopes for observing the surroundings, electronic antennas, and access points for arms.
It also serves as the main entry and exit point for individuals entering or leaving the submarine. Torpedoes are stored in torpedo tubes. These are basically self-propelled underwater missiles.
These tubes are cylindrical containers designed to house these cylindrical missiles. In modern submarines, torpedoes are typically placed at the front. However, in the 2017 Bollywood film 'Ghazi Attack,' the depiction of a submarine featured torpedoes at both the front and back. This was historically accurate as powerful submarines back then indeed had torpedoes at both ends because torpedoes could only travel in a straight line at the time.
An intriguing aspect is that these torpedo tubes can also be used as emergency escape routes from submarines. Nevertheless, escaping through them is no easy feat. The tubes have a narrow diameter, measuring only 12.75 inches for light torpedoes and 21 inches for heavy torpedoes. First of all, this is an extremely narrow space. Additionally, individuals attempting to escape must wear a 23 kg escape suit due to the immense water pressure at those depths. One can't simply exit the submarine at those depths.
The immense pressure of the water would crush the unprepared instantly. Officers working in submarines undergo rigorous training for six months. India's sole military submarine training establishment, INS Satavahana, is located in Vishakhapatnam city. At this training facility, numerous replicas of torpedo tubes are available for officers to practice emergency escapes.
Now, let's delve into the submarine's power source where does it get the energy to operate? The answer depends on the type of submarine, with two primary categories in India: conventional submarines and nuclear submarines.
Conventional submarines utilize large electrical batteries, akin to car batteries, but these require recharging every 2-3 days. To recharge these batteries, a diesel engine is needed. However, operating a diesel engine necessitates oxygen from the air. Since submarines operate underwater, they must resurface to run the diesel engine and recharge the batteries.
In contrast, nuclear submarines don't have this problem. They employ a nuclear reactor instead of a diesel engine to generate electricity. This allows them to remain submerged for extended periods, limited only by the human factors, such as the availability of food and provisions for the crew.
The submarines can remained submerged as long as there's sufficient provisions for the crew. Examining the structure of a submarine, the outer layer is typically composed of rubber. This reason for strategic choice is quite simple actually. Because rubber effectively absorbs sound, making it challenging to detect submarines in the water.
Military submarines are designed to be elusive, ensuring they are not easily spotted by enemy counterparts. The black layer visible in submarine photos is made of rubber. Moving to the interior, the primary body of the submarine within the rubber layer is referred to as the Hull. There are two common types of hulls: single hull and double hull. Single hull submarines have only one layer of the main body, while double hull submarines consist of two layers of the main body.
In the double hull design, the ballast tank is integrated, with water filling the space between the two layers, effectively serving as a ballast tank. The clear advantage of a double hull configuration lies in providing an additional layer of protection. In the event of a collision, a double hull submarine offers enhanced security. Most modern military submarines adopt the double hull design, not only for added protection but also to better withstand water pressure as illustrated by the incident involving the Titan submersible's implosion under water pressure.
At the water's surface, the atmospheric pressure is 1 atmosphere, equivalent to 1 kilogram per square centimeter. As one descends underwater, pressure increases. For every 10 meters of depth, there's an additional 1 kilogram per square meter of pressure.
Military submarines are typically designed to operate at depths of 300-400 meters, with some capable of reaching depths of 500 meters. At this depth, the pressure reaches 50 atmospheres 50 times greater than at the surface. Obviously, constructing submarine hulls requires robust materials. Not using the right materials might cause failures or accidents. As with the Titan submersible. Military submarines use high-quality steel alloys, blending steel with titanium, carbon, aluminum, and other elements.
The complexity of designing a submarine is underscored by the fact that it takes approximately 10 years to design a diesel-electric submarine, while a nuclear submarine demands a minimum of 15-17 years at the designing stage. This intricacy is why India often outsources submarine design to other countries, such as Russia, Germany, or France. However, India manufactures its own submarines. India's first domestically manufactured submarine was INS Shalki, launched in 1987 during Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's tenure. and commissioned by the Indian Navy in 1992.
On Indian Navy's website, you will see that there are different categories of submarines, which are divided into classes. In India, there are four classes. Sindhughosh, Shishumar, Kalvari, and Arihant. The first three classes are of conventional submarines: the Sindhughosh class comprises Russian diesel-powered EKMs, the Shishumar class features German SSKs, and the Kalvari class showcases new French-designed and Indian-built SCORPENEs. Here, EKMs, SSKs, and SCORPENEs are the nomenclature used for submarines in other countries.
But we classify these submarines into these classes, These classes of submarines can be compared to the models of cars. Specifically, Sindhughosh comprises 7 submarines, Shishumar has 4, and the Kalvari class has 5 operational submarines. Detailed information about each submarine, including names, can be found on the Indian Navy website, and the link is provided in the description below. Moving to the category of nuclear submarines, India has named its class Arihant, Currently, there are two active nuclear submarines in this class, with two more under construction in Vishakhapatnam.
The Arihant-class submarines have the capability to carry ballistic missiles, Ballistic missiles are self-guided missiles that can be equipped with nuclear bombs. INS Arihant is presently armed with K-15 submarine-launched ballistic missile, an SLBM like the one I mentioned earlier in the blog. The range of the K-15 missile is between 750 km and 1,900 km. Talking about the other developed countries, the American Navy's Ohio-class submarines are considered among the most powerful in the world. The U.S. possesses a total of 18 Ohio-class submarines, each capable of carrying 24 Trident 2 ballistic missiles. Furthermore, each Trident 2 missile can potentially accommodate 14 nuclear bombs.
When the United States and Russia aimed to decrease the number of nuclear weapons they had, they entered into the START 1 agreement. The terms of the agreement specified a reduction limit from 14 to 8. This START I treaty, officially known as the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, was the first treaty between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to reduce strategic nuclear weapons. Beyond these, the U.S.
Navy features other submarine classes, such as Los Angeles, Columbia, and Virginia classes. In Russia, the Yasen class stands out as the most powerful nuclear attack submarine. Besides India, Russia, and the U.S., other countries like China, the UK, France, and Germany also possess similar submarines. The actual capacity of these submarines in terms of personnel varies between submarines and the actual data is confidential in these countries due to military reasons. The estimated capacity of a submarine generally ranges between 50 and 80 people, 50 to 80 people can be onboard these submarines.
With nuclear submarines being even larger, it can accommodate approximately 100 individuals. The size of these submarines is truly remarkable, as depicted in the blog. It's unbelievable. For those eager to witness these marvels in person, a visit to Vishakhapatnam, home to a submarine museum, is recommended. The museum features INS Kursura, a retired Indian Navy submarine commissioned in 1969. Notably, the museum was inaugurated in 2002 by the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Chandra Babu Naidu.
If you desire the firsthand experience of being inside a submarine, tourism submarines or research submarines offer such opportunities. Typically, non-military submarines do not venture too deep into the water. The Titan submersible was an exception. Such deep-sea submarines are rare in the tourism sector.
A few companies in Europe, the USA, and the UK, provide submarine and submersible dives. Such as the companies Atlantis and Seabourn. They offer expeditions to locations like Alaska. I trust you've gained valuable insights from this blog. It's a truly heart-wrenching story. Thank you very much!