The submarine’s displacement is 8,140/12,770
tons. Its maximum speed is 30 knots, maximum operating depth, 600 m;
and endurance is 100 days with a crew of 73. The vessel is armed with
four 533mm torpedo tubes and four 650mm torpedo tubes.
India has become the sixth operator of nuclear submarines in the world,
after the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China, though it
previously leased another Russian submarine which was then returned.
Twenty sailors died on the Nerpa in 2008 after the vessel’s fire-suppression
systems were accidentally triggered during sea trials, releasing toxic
gases.
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