India's only nuclear-powered sub INS Chakra suffers damage

NEW DELHI: Indian Navy's only nuclear-powered submarine, INS Chakra, has suffered a damage and a board of inquiry has been ordered into it, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said today.

"There has been some damage to her sonar domes where two panels have been dislodged. A board of inquiry has been instituted," he said.

INS Chakra is a nuclear-powered submarine which was taken by India on lease from Russia in 2012 for a period of 10 years.

Lanba said a joint team of Indian and Russian experts has already examined the submarine to assess the damage.

"It was a joint team of Indian and Russian experts who examined the submarine. We have already ordered the panels," Lanba told a press conference ahead of the Navy Day on December 4.

He hoped that the submarine will be back into action "sooner than later".

INS Chakra is propelled by a 190 MW nuclear reactor. The submarine had suffered the damage around two-and-a-half months back.

Lanba also categorically rejected Russian media reports that the Navy had allowed a technical team from the US to visit the submarine.

"No US official has even seen it from close quarters," he said.