Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: India’s sea-based nuclear deterrent will be strengthened soon as the country’s third indigenous Arihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), INS Aridhaman (designated S4), is likely to be commissioned by April-May. “The commissioning of INS Aridhaman is expected by this summer as the submarine is currently in the final stages of sea trial,” a defence source told TOI.Last Dec, Navy chief Admiral D K Tripathi had said that INS Aridhaman would be commissioned this year.INS Aridhaman, built under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam, will be larger (7,000 tonne) than predecessors INS Arihant and INS Arighaat (6,000 tonne), featuring enhanced capability to carry long-range K-4 missiles. INS Aridhaman will be armed with 24 K-15 Sagarika SLBMs (750 km range) and eight K-4 SLBMs (3,500 km range), which are capable of reaching most parts of Asia.Once it enters service, India will have three operational ballistic missile submarines under the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) at sea for the first time, moving the country closer to achieving ‘Continuous At-Sea Deterrence’, a strategic defence policy where a nation maintains at least one SSBN on patrol 365 days a year.As a stealthy underwater platform, INS Aridhaman boosts India’s “second-strike” capability—the ability to retaliate after a nuclear attack. It is designed to carry more long-range nuclear-tipped missiles than its predecessors INS Arihant and INS Arighaat.In addition to INS Aridhaman, the Indian Navy is securing an Akula-class SSN nuclear-powered attack submarine from Russia, commonly referred to as “Chakra III”, with expected delivery by 2027 or early 2028. Besides these submarine projects, India and Germany are in the final stages of negotiating a $8-10 billion Project-75(I) deal to build six advanced, conventional diesel-electric submarines equipped with Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology.The new submarine acquisitions are timely as Pakistan is acquiring eight advanced Hangor-class diesel-electric attack submarines from China under a $5 billion 2015 deal to bolster its naval capabilities.INS Aridhaman is equipped with an 83 MW pressurised water reactor and advanced sonar suites, possesses indigenous USHUS and Panchendriya sonar systems for better target detection and has improved acoustic damping with anechoic tiles to reduce noise, making it harder to detect. Once operational, it will be based at Project Varsha, a high-security facility with underground pens near Visakhapatnam.
