Foxtrot to Arihant – The story of Indian Navy’s Submarine Arm
Publisher: Frontier India Technology
Published: 2015
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 250
ISBN-13: 9788193005552
Description: The Indian navy’s silent but deadly sub surface fighting arm has undergone tremendous changes since the first Foxtrot submarine was inducted into the service on 8 December 1967. The submarines have been a complex mix of diesel-electric – nuclear propulsion; Soviet – Western – Indian design; and imported – licence – indigenous build. Be it a two man swimmer delivery vehicle or deep water Kilo’s and HDW’s or blue water Charlie I and Akula II class SSGN’s or strategic Arihant class SSBN’s, the navy has operated the entire spectrum of submarine types. The grit and determination of the submariners is not just limited to fighting but also to build their own machines and fight. The submarine arm is also a bit of mystery and usually finds mentions in few pages in naval books or makes headlines during accidents. The book traces the origin and growth of the submarine arm of the Indian navy.

The book has been written in consultation with Cmde Arun Kumar, AVSM, NM (Retd.) who has served 28 years in the submarine arm and has headed critical submarine upgrade and procurement plans. In his twenty eight years of submarine career, he held various staff and command appointments. He was Commodore Commanding Submarines (East) & Commanded INS Virbahu submarine base in the East which is regarded as ‘Alma Mater’ by the submariners of the Indian Navy; commanded the guided missile destroyer Rajput; and the Submarine Training school Satavahana. His last appointment in service was Principal Director of Submarine Acquisitions at NHQ.

VAdm K.N Sushil, PVSM, AVSM, NM, ADC, Former Chief Southern Naval Command (Redt.) has written the preface. Cmde Ranjit B. Rai (Retd.) has contributed 3 chapters to the book.
Table of contents: title: Foreword (VAdm. K.N. Sushil (Retd)); title: The Historical Perspective of Submarines (Cmde. Ranjit Rai (Retd.)); title: Submarines in the Indian Context; title: History – Conventional Submarines in India; title: Foxtrots – The Kalvari Class, The Vela Class; title: The Swedish Offer; title: HDW Type 1500 – Shishumar Class; title: 877EKM – The Kilo – Sindhughosh Class; title: The Indian Submarine Design; title: 30 Year Plan For Submarine Construction; title: Project 75 – The Scorpene; title: Submarines At War – 1971; title: Submarine Accidents; title: Midgets and Chariots; title: Nuclear Submarines For India – Historical Perspective; title: Leased Nuclear Submarines – Ins Chakra; title: Indian Nuclear Submarine Project – ATV – Arihant; title: The Untold Story of the Arihant(Cmde. Ranjit Rai (Retd.)); title: The SSGN’s; title: P-75 India; title: Submarines – The Debates Within (Cmde Arun Kumar (Retd)); title: Submarine Rescue; title: Autonomous Underwater Vehicles; title: Submarine Command Structure; title: Submarine Training; title: Submarine Communication; title: Submarine Support Vessel – INS Amba; title: Key Submarine Bases and Infrastructure; title: DRDO and Submarine Technologies; title: Ex Brasstacks : When Pakistan’s Red Submarines kept India’s Blue Navy at Bay (Cmde Ranjit Rai (Redt)); title: Some Exciting Moments in Submarining (Cmde Arun Kumar (Retd)); title: The Submarine Arm Comes of Age (Cmde Arun Kumar (Retd)); title: Future Indian Naval Submarines; title: Technical and Tactical Data – Foxtrot , Chakra – Charlie-I, Shishumar, Sindhugosh, Scorpene, Chakra – Akula II & Arihant