The Indian Naval Force has commissioned its second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), baptized as INS Arighaat. This step represents an important advance in increasing the country’s strategic nuclear capability, as the new submarine is armed with ballistic missiles manufactured in the country and incorporates improvements over its predecessor. However, it should be noted that theIndia’s submarine fleet is considerably inferior to China’s, one of its main strategic rivals.
INS Arighaat is part of the programme that India started with the launch of INS Arihant in 2009. The new submersible It displaces 6,000 tons and is equipped with K-15 nuclear ballistic missiles.The Navy plans to conduct long-range patrols in the Indo-Pacific region.
“While INS Arighat is of the same size, length and displacement as INS Arihant, can carry more K-15 missiles. The new ship is much more capable, efficient and stealthy,” an anonymous source told The Times of India.5
The K-14 missile, which has a range of 750 kilometers, is powered by a two-stage solid-fuel engine. It can carry a nuclear warhead as well as conventional weapons. According to experts at The Zone War, the K-15 could reach much of Pakistan (India’s traditional regional adversary, which also possesses nuclear weapons) if fired from relatively safe waters. China’s critical targets would only be threatened by India if the missile were launched from an SSBN operating in the South China Sea, an area China closely monitors and patrols.
Another new submarine in 6 months
The Indian Armed Forces will have their third nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine within six months, the INS Aridaman, which is larger and therefore has greater capacity to carry ballistic missiles. This type of submarine is also armed with torpedoes.
Nuclear-powered submarines can remain underwater for months, their range limited only by logistics, supply and crew changes. Diesel-electric attack submarines, on the other hand, need to surface almost every other day to charge their batteries.
