A Chinese newspaper has gleefully dismissed India’s navy as “too amateurish” to operate nuclear submarines after the pride of its fleet was put out of service because someone had left a hatch door open.
The Global Times also said India’s military forces were a “hodgepodge” of incompatible technologies due to billions of dollars being spent importing weapons from a range of suppliers, including Russia, France, the UK and the US — while it also tried to develop domestic variations.
INS Arihant, India’s only locally-built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and a symbol of the country’s blue water ambitions, has barely been sighted since it completed sea trials in early 2016 and was officially launched in August of the same year.
It was recently disclosed that the submarine, constructed at a cost of US$2.9 billion, was forced back to port after a rear hatch was left open when it submerged, flooding the propulsion plant. The propulsion compartment on a nuclear-powered submarine includes the reactor.
According to The Hindu, the submarine had to spend more than 10 months being dried out and undergoing repairs at its home port of Visakhapatnam. The Defence Ministry said the 6,000 tonne state-of-the-art vessel was now back in service.
India is only the sixth country to successfully build its own nuclear-armed submarine, but the incident has been a major embarrassment for the armed forces after they put their military might on show at the 69th Republic Day celebrations only late last month.
The state-owned Global Times mocked the “indiscipline and slackness” of the submarine’s commanders and crew and said the Indian Navy may be “too amateurish” to operate such a complex, advanced vessel.
“As a national strategic weapon, the nuclear submarine requires careful maintenance, strict management and operation. However, the sailors on the vessel failed to take good care of it,” a Beijing-based naval expert told the newspaper.
Criticising the caliber of India’s armed forces, the report said the Arihant gaffe had shown that most of its soldiers were “not well-educated and lack the necessary knowledge to operate advanced weaponry”.
“Improvement in military technology does not come about overnight and is not solely a military issue, but is related to a country’s comprehensive strength, level of technology, manufacturing capability and quality of personnel,” it said, adding a “warm reminder” that New Delhi would be better to divert resources from the arms race and rivalry with Beijing to proper, basic training of its troops.
The comments did not go down well with some online readers. One suggested that “the so-called expertise [of China] goes out the door when party line takes primary role in criticism [against India]”.
Undaunted by the incident, New Delhi is reportedly pressing ahead with plans for more submarines of the Arihant class. India has one other nuclear-powered submarine, the INS Chakra, but it is being leased from Russia under a 10-year deal that ends in 2022.
the article is itself an ameturish article….as per the Arihant Design…which is borrowed from Amur Class from Russia….does not have a hatch door opening at sea level!!!! … Please do a bit more research …before passing on such bull shit!!! are you guys aware the chinese Yang class nuclear subs are called "Clanker Class"…bcoz of the amount of sound it generates when moving under nnormal sea conditions!!!
This Chinese people thingking that they are already superior in many ways…you are just copycut to other countries design specially Russia and parts of US. Then you thing you’re already Superior, Gad Damn….
The reporting of hatch door being left open exhibits that we don’t hide our mistakes and we are willing to learn improve and evolve. We don’t need lectures from regimes whose creditionals are as dubious as their ideology.
Mon Mah ,what are you talking about ?
Envious of China?
Laughable.
Rohit Arvind Mishra Really? What good is a sub, it if its noisy????
Because of its money power, China had perfected the art of corruption and corrupting elites of weak nations and colonising those countries via back-doors….nothing to shout about China – you are a shame to humanity!
By throwing cheap comments,you don’t become a better person and you don’t realize that you are actually devaluing yourself.
Most important is whether is it true that incident did take place.
Indians not just mock Chinese but India’s medias always created fake news or unconfirmed news on China.
OMG
Fake news,alarms will always work on this situation to avoid accident.
Someone at Asia Times seems to want to sow discord between Indians and Chinese. I read the piece on Global Times and I didn’t see any "mocking". That was in the eye of the editor at Asia Times, who apparently hoped Indians reading it would feel that, too. The piece was presented in GT as being an op-ed comment by a naval expert living in Beijing.
Global Times’ sister website in Chinese has lots of military news about india, but the bits I read tended to be straight and factual. Yesterday’s item was a clear reporting — with infographics and a photo — of two successful rocket launches by India.
The growing enmity between India and China is a terrible thing for those countries — both of which I visit and love — and for the world. To seek out obscure articles to attempt to fan the flames is a destructive act.
At least no reports have come out stating that the submarine is otherwise lacking in tech or too noisy…most Chinese nuclear subs, and especially the ballistic missile submarines, are said to make a cacophony of noise similar to that of a dying pig…
The Global Times makes a rule out of mocking and instigating India.
China sniggers at the Indian Navy’s Arihant but stops short of extrapolating the Arihant’s rear port to the Vice of the Indian Navy’s Vice Admiral, which, as we all know, is the rear of the Rear Admiral:
Alvin Shin
sea water always cools it down. Ingenious.
Actually Indian navy incompetence isn’t news. Few years ago, a US Navy officer who participated in a joint navy drill with Indian Navy, published a harsh criticism on Indian navy readiness and system. It is indeed laughable that a crew of nuclear sub could make such a stupid and disastrous mistake.
Mark Niio e
Global Times might miss-quote on its reportings just like NYT, WP, even CNN , i.e., as in accusing China of stealing :). A case of lost in translation, shall we say?
🙂 Babble Fish isn’t really that perfect of a program you know. 🙂
Look, we Chinese, or Global, have no need to MOCK India or any ither country. It is other countries, who, out of ENVY, HATE, or RACIAL INTENSIONS, who have this tendency of MOCKING CHINA. It is NEVER the other way around.
On another note, on this "EXCUSE of UNLOCKED HATCH mishap however, how dumb does some people think we homo-sapients are anyway? I mean this is the twenty first century. And, in the twenty first century, [ even with Indian submarines that are built with American technology and assistance ], it’s highly unlikely that the hatches in these Tiengong type space capsules can be left unlocked. I mean unlocked hatch warning lights and/or safety features that prevents such WW2 mistakes from happening??? C’mon Man!!!
Here’s what I think happened: a technical/mechanical glitch, i.e., Kursk, USS Scorpion, Chinese Xia class type accident, as in overheated reactor or something lessor, all of which are naturally occuring ups and downs of first tries at home grown submarines, happened to the Irahant.
In order to cover up the FACE LOSING SETBACK, and God knows the Indians are big on FACE since ’62, the Indian Navy spinned it as the work a dumb sailor.
C’mon Man! How dumb do people think us human beings are anyway???
🙂
It is really unfair to pick on India’s method of ventilating the submarine. Maybe it was too hot inside.
You must be in cave or you must be a village idiot if you don’t think Global Time is not a fake news site parroting the arrogant CCP’s propagandas and undiplomatic attitude.
Fake news. The chinese do not mock others. More likely Global Times was repeating such news from a western media source. Asia Times has intentionally attributed such news to Global Times.