NEW DELHI, December 17. /TASS/. India's naval forces have made a decision to lease another Russian nuclear submarine, the Times of India daily reports on Wednesday. The submarine in question is the Project-971 Shchuka-B (NATO reporting name Akula) armed with cruise missiles.

The first Project-971 submarine, the Nerpa, was leased from Russia for 10 years. It was commissioned in the Indian naval forces in 2012 and got the name of the Chakra.

According to the newspaper, India is also going to manufacture three nuclear submarines itself. Currently, there are 13 submarines in the Indian navy, but only half of them are in operational readiness.