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Kalam goes where no President has
The Prez went 40 metres below sea in one of the most advanced submarines, writes Sutirtho Patranobis.
On Monday, President APJ Abdul Kalam went where none of his predecessors had ever been — 40 metres below the sea in one of the most advanced Indian Navy submarines equipped with ballistic missiles that can be launched from under water.
Sindhu Rakshak, a Russian-built submarine commissioned at St Petersburg in 1997, went around 20 nautical miles into sea with Kalam, who is also the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces. The submarine was escorted by INS Rajput, which acted as a `consort ship' as well as the target for simulated attacks demonstrated to the President.
Navy officers were initially not sure if Kalam would be able to go down the steep ladder — and come up later — into the captain's cabin.
“We had told him about the steep climb down. He also had a shoulder fracture few months ago. But he insisted on the sortie. But we have a doctor on board as well," said a Navy officer. The President's personal doctor also accompanied him to the submarine.
In the end, the President did just fine. The sortie lasted for about three hours and Kalam went around the vessel, closely following the details of how the vessel functions as told by the Captain of the ship, Pravesh Singh Bisht. Bisht told Kalam that the Kilo-class submarine had taken part in many international exercises besides Operation Parakram. The Indian Navy has about 10 submarines in this class, called the Sindhu class of submarines.
Kalam mingled with the crew and officers, enquiring about their job profiles and asking about the problems. He also shared a bite with the crew. The Navy chief, Arun Prakash accompanied Kalam.
During the sortie, simulated torpedo attack was carried out for Kalam. The submarine was taken to various depths for the President to experience. The attacks were carried out at a depth of about 10 metres.
On disembarking, Kalam hinted about the Indian Navy's need for a submarine capable of launching nuclear warheads. "We need a system with long range and endurance," Kalam said.
