New Delhi: Amid the ongoing military confrontation with China, India is set to commission its third nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) within the next six months. The third SSBN, to be named INS Aridhaman, will be capable of carrying more long-range nuclear-tipped missiles than its predecessors, INS Arihant and INS Arighat.
SSBNs are the most secure
INS Arighat was inducted into the Strategic Forces Command on Thursday. INS Aridhaman, along with the fourth SSBN currently under construction, will be even more formidable. With a displacement of 7,000 tonnes and a length of 125 metres, these submarines will have the capacity to carry a larger number of K-4 missiles.
Able to remain submerged for months, SSBNs are the most secure, survivable, and stealthy platforms for second-strike capabilities, which in turn deter an adversary from launching a surprise first strike.
India lags behind larger nuclear powers
However, India still lags behind larger nuclear powers, with the United States, Russia, and China possessing more advanced nuclear submarines. China has six Jin-class SSBNs equipped with 10,000-kilometre range JL-3 missiles and six nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) for conventional warfare. The United States has an even more formidable fleet, comprising 14 Ohio-class SSBNs and 53 SSNs.
According to a report in The Times of India, there is a plan for a Rs 40,000 crore project to build two 6,000-tonne ‘hunter-killer’ SSNs, armed with torpedoes, anti-ship, and land-attack missiles, which is currently awaiting final approval from the Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security. Current estimates suggest that the project will take more than a decade to complete.
India’s secret four-SSBN project
India’s quest for its indigenous nuclear submarine capability began in the late 1990s under a top-secret project known as the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV). The plan was to build four such submarines. In 2009, INS Arihant was launched at the shipbuilding centre in Visakhapatnam. The second nuclear submarine, INS Arighat, was commissioned today. The third submarine, INS Aridhaman, and a fourth are already under construction.