Why is America not giving nuclear submarines to India? France will help!

On 16 September Indian Navy officials announced the US, UK, and Australia military alliance AUKUS. Indian Navy officers are disappointed with this announcement. The task of AUKUS is to neutralize the growing influence of China in the Indo-Pacific region. With this, America and Britain will design and build 8 nuclear-powered attack submarines for Australia.

Top officials of the Indian Navy and Navy veterans have ruled out the possibility of cooperation between India and the US on nuclear reactor propulsion technology. This became almost clear during the Track 2 dialogue in Australia about two years ago.

India has had nuclear submarines since 2016. India is the sixth country in the world to have nuclear submarines. In 2016, India commissioned INS Arihant. Although Arihant is a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. If you say SSBN. But India wants an SSN. The SSN can perform a range of tactical missions, from escorting the SSBN to hunting down its carrier battle groups and enemy warships.

SSN is technically considered the most complex military platform. They are capable of giving tremendous speed underwater. They do not require a surface to recharge their batteries, unlike conventional diesel-electric submarines. These weapons can carry twice the weight of conventional submarines and can move twice as fast.

If not given to Britain then how to give it to you?

With over 70 operational nuclear submarines, the US has the largest number of nuclear submarines compared to Russia, France, and the UK. America uses the most complex nuclear reactors. The SSNs of the US Virginia series are designed in such a way that they do not require fuel for 33 years. The most important thing about SSN is its high-performance nuclear reactor. Only five permanent members of the UN Security Council have this technology.

India wants to build SSN equipped with a nuclear reactor. This proposal has been placed before the Cabinet Committee on Security this year. Even if the project is approved, the first unit is not expected to enter service before 2032.

A few years ago a defense expert had told us that India is asking us for technology that we do not even give to our closest ally Britain. A US admiral had told his Indian counterpart that the issue of naval reactor propulsion would have to be discussed at a political level. But it is not clear whether there was ever any discussion about this.

Will France help?

This US stand is reminiscent of the 1960s when India turned to the erstwhile Soviet Union to acquire submarines and was successful after the US and Britain refused.

The search for India's nuclear submarine technology is on. In this episode, India had contacted France in 2017 but the matter was not made. France has withdrawn its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington, angered by Australia's exit from the submarine deal in 2021. In such a situation, India may get nuclear submarine technology from France.