India's Submarine Surge In Indian Ocean

Given the increase in sub-surface activity by the PLA Navy and its nexus with its Pakistani counterpart, India is fast tracking the expansion of its undersea fleet.

- Rakesh Krishnan Simha

The Indian Ocean Area (IOR) is becoming an area of intense rivalry between India and China. The PLA Navy now has a near-permanent presence in the area with a growing fleet that allows it to rotate warships with ease. The spearheads of the PLA Navy are its new and upgraded submarines which have been frequently spotted in Gwadar port, underlining China’s naval nexus with its client state Pakistan.

According to a report by the US Office of Naval Intelligence, China’s submarine T force is part of what Beijing calls “non-contact warfare” – the use of weapons and platforms capable of conducting long-range, precision attacks from outside an enemy’s defended zone. In alignment with that doctrine, the PLA Navy is adding nuclear attack submarines (SSN) and nuclear ballistic missile subs (SSBN) at an alarming rate. As per estimates, China currently possesses 53 conventional submarines, five SSNs and four SSBNs. In comparison India has 14 conventional, one functional SSN, the Akula class Chakra, and the first indigenously built SSBN, INS Arihant.

In just three more years, the Chinese submarine strength is expected to reach 79 vessels. Even as older noisier subs are being upgraded, the introduction of new submarines armed either with nuclear or cruise missiles will make the force more lethal. The number of attack submarines that can launch anti-ship cruise missile is also increasing significantly. Since the 1990s, China has built 13 Song-class attack submarines and 17 Yuan-class ones with diesel-electric air-independent power attack submarines. Three more Yuans are slated for deployment by 2020.

Strategic missile submarines of China include four new Jin-class ones outfitted with the JL-2, a new submarine-launched ballistic missile with intercontinental range. Also in the works are the Type 096 and Type 093B, both new classes of missile submarines that will enter the fleet in the 2020s.