Rajnath Singh inaugurates high-tech communication station for submarines

Very low frequency station in Telangana to boost Navy's operational readiness

The battleworthiness of the Indian Navy’s submarine fleet got a substantial boost on Tuesday when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated its new communication station in Vikarabad, Telangana.

The new communication facility at the Damagundam Reserve Forest, once completed, will allow the Navy’s submarines, even while operating thousands of nautical miles from our shores, to exchange information securely and receive orders from shore stations and vice versa.

This capability, which is essential for India’s fleet of 17 conventional submarines, is even more critical for its under-construction nuclear submarine fleet. The Navy’s two sub-surface ballistic nuclear submarines of the Arihant-class, which constitute the underwater component of India’s nuclear deterrent, require clear orders from shore to submarine to avoid a nuclear disaster.

The Navy’s new facility, once completed, will complement an earlier very low frequency (VLF) station at INS Kattabomman in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu.

The VLF radios and antennae that will constitute the framework of this communication grid sprawl along 2,900 acres and have cost Rs 3,200 crore to build.

Speaking on the occasion, Singh asserted that the high-tech VLF station, once operational, would not just be a military establishment, but a “strategic asset of national importance”.

He said that a secure communication channel is critical not only for timely and effective decision-making but also for conveying orders from the higher command to combat units.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Tripathi also spoke, pointing out that the project would give the Indian Navy “a secure, robust, responsive, and reliable command, control, and communication network across the oceans”.

“This VLF station would play an important role in enabling seamless, secure, worldwide communications, including, most importantly, with our dived submarines, thus ensuring their stealth and enhanced effectiveness,” said Tripathi.

Rajnath added that the morale of sailors rests upon being fully informed in battle. “During crisis management, a clear communication channel is the key. It becomes even more necessary when the situation is dynamic and the response time is very short. These things are historically proven.”

Asked about the impact of the project on the environment, Rajnath pledged that affected villagers would be rehabilitated. He also vowed that the government would ensure that the new technology in the VLF station would not hurt the environment.

Finally, the defence minister pledged that the VLF station would open new vistas of economic development.

“During its construction, skilled and unskilled workers from the surrounding area will get employment… This station will also work as a growth pole, providing further impetus to the economic development in the surrounding areas,” he said.