INS Arihant

Table of Contents

INDIA ANNOUNCES COMPLETE NUCLEAR DETERRENCE

Nuclear Deterrence – the military doctrine according to which the possibility that a country will use the nuclear weapons it possesses in retaliation will deter an enemy from attacking.

NOTES

India has declared that its nuclear triad, stated in its nuclear doctrine, is operational
This was after indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarine INS Arihant achieved a milestone by conducting its first deterrence patrol
It essentially means that Arihant is now prowling the deep seas carrying ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads
The second submarine in the series, Arighat is now undergoing sea trials after which it will be inducted into service

DETERRENCE PATROL

A Cold War-era practice where nuclear-armed submarines are deployed in waters from where they can fire on the adversary if attacked. Since the Chinese deployment of a nuclear submarine in 2013 for so-called ‘anti-piracy missions’ off the east coast of Africa, there has been a firming of belief in New Delhi that development of the ‘nuclear triad’ — a stated policy for more than 30 years — must be treated with urgency.

NOTES

- Like India, China also professes a ‘no first strike’ policy in its nuclear doctrine. It believes that its maritime capability to launch nuclear weapons complements its variants of land-based road and raillaunched strategic missiles.
- Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz defended the policy of first use. Aziz stated that Pakistan’s first use doctrine is entirely deterrent in nature. He explained that it was effective after the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and argued that if Pakistan had a nofirst use policy, there would have been a major war between the two countries.

DEVELOPMENT OF INS ARIHANT

INS Arihant, a strategic asset, was developed for over two decades under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) programme
INS Arihant is India’s first indigenously-designed, developed and manufactured nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, and three more such submarines are reportedly under various stages of construction
INS Arihant development project was officially acknowledged in 1998 and the submarine was launched in 2009
The nuclear reactor of the submarine went critical in 2013 and it was commissioned three years later

RELIABILITY OF INS ARIHANT

It comes directly under the Nuclear Command Authority headed by the Prime Minister
Given India’s stated position of ‘No-First-Use’ (NFU) in launching nuclear weapons, the SSBN is the most dependable platform for a second-strike
Because they are powered by nuclear reactors, these submarines can stay underwater indefinitely without the adversary detecting it. The other two platforms — land-based and air-launched are far easier to detect
This places India in the league of the few countries that can design, construct and operate SSBN

INS Arihant (Sanskrit for “Slayer of Enemies”)
6,000 tonne vessel
On 25 November 2015, a dummy or unarmed Sagarika missile was successfully test fired from Arihant.

SAGARIKA MISSILE

Sagarika also known by the code names K15 or B-05, is a nuclear-capable submarinelaunched ballistic missile with a range of 750 kilometres

CHINESE CAPABILITY

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is estimated to have four Jin-class SSBNs (ballistic missile submarines) plus nine SSNs (nuclear-powered submarines).
It is estimated to be maintaining a fleet of 40-plus dieselelectric submarines.

NOTES

India has 14 conventional submarines, half-a-dozen of which are now going through upgrades of different kinds. Plus, it has the INS Chakra SSN on a 10-year lease from Russia, and now the Arihant. At least two more of the Arihant class are in the works. But India’s progress on long-range submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) is a secret, with little or no information put out officially. A variant of the Sagarika missile that arms the Arihant is estimated to have a range of 750 km. The Chinese JL-2 missiles that arm its Jin-class SSBNs are said to have a range upwards of 4,000 miles (over 6,400 kms).