bhagat
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- Dec 29, 2010
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There are only three countries in the world, US, Russia and China, which have a fully-operational nuclear weapon triad which is the capability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles from land, air and sea. India in 2012 will gatecrash into this highly-exclusive club and become a formidable force to mess with.
The triad will complete India's crucial underwater nuclear leg by the active duty launch of it's first indigenous nuclear submarine which is named INS Arihant or the "destroyer of enemies" by 2012.
The land and air legs are already in place with the Agni family of road and rail-mobile ballistic missiles as well as fighter jets like Mirage-2000's and Sukhoi-30MKI's jury-rigged to deliver nuclear weapons.
Once the INS Arihant goes to sea, it will be on a deterrent patrol which means the submarine is ready to fire nucelar-tipped ballistic missiles. The triad will then be in place for India and the aim is to make it as effective as possible since India has a no-first-use policy.
This news from the Indian Navy comes barely a day after Wikileaks revealed that American and European diplomats were greatly alarmed about Pakistan's feverish production of nuclear weapons. Estimates show Pakistan already has around 70 to 90 warheads which is higher than India's 60 to 80. China, of course, is way ahead with around 240 warheads since it began producing nuclear warheads way before.
A financially crunched Pakistan is no where near getting a nuclear submarine while China has 10 of them in it's 62-submarine fleet, with three of them being SSBNs which are armed with long-range strategic missiles. India, in comparison has just 15 conventional and ageing diesel electric submarines but is also on a fast track induction process with multiple orders placed with Indian and foreign shipyards for state-of-the-art submarines.
INS Arihant is extremely crucial to India's nuclear deterrence doctrine, which revolves around a clear "no-first-use" policy. A robust and survivable second-strike capability is hugely dependent on having multiple nuclear-powered submarines, armed with SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), which can operate silently underwater for several months at a time.
The INS Arihant, which was launched in July 2009, would have potent SLBM capabilities to complete the triad. With INS Arihant's miniature 83 MW pressurized light-water reactor slated to go "critical" within a month or two for sea-acceptance trials, Navy also seems quite confident about ongoing undersea tests of the 700-km Indian K-15 and 3,500-km K-4 SLBM's.
The 6,000-tonne INS Arihant, which has four silos on it's hump to carry 12 K-15's or four extended range K-4's will be followed by another two nuclear submarines under a secretive Rs 30,000 crore Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project.
The Indian Navy intends to have three SSBN's and six SSN's (nuclear-powered attack submarines) in the years ahead. The force will also finally induct the K-152 Nerpa submarine, on a 10-year lease from Russia, towards April or May 2011 after several delays.
However, the 12,000-tonne Nerpa will not come armed with long-range missiles due to international treaties but it will surely help train Indian sailors in the complex art of operating nuclear submarines. It will also be a lethal hunter of enemy submarines and warships, armed with torpedoes and 300-km Klub-S cruise missiles.
The INS Arihant is to be the first of the expected five in the class of nuclear submarines designed and constructed as a part of the Indian Navy's secretive Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) Project. The submarine is reported to be similar to the Russian Charlie-II class submarine, which India leased from the Soviet Union between 1988 and 1991.
The triad will complete India's crucial underwater nuclear leg by the active duty launch of it's first indigenous nuclear submarine which is named INS Arihant or the "destroyer of enemies" by 2012.
The land and air legs are already in place with the Agni family of road and rail-mobile ballistic missiles as well as fighter jets like Mirage-2000's and Sukhoi-30MKI's jury-rigged to deliver nuclear weapons.
Once the INS Arihant goes to sea, it will be on a deterrent patrol which means the submarine is ready to fire nucelar-tipped ballistic missiles. The triad will then be in place for India and the aim is to make it as effective as possible since India has a no-first-use policy.
This news from the Indian Navy comes barely a day after Wikileaks revealed that American and European diplomats were greatly alarmed about Pakistan's feverish production of nuclear weapons. Estimates show Pakistan already has around 70 to 90 warheads which is higher than India's 60 to 80. China, of course, is way ahead with around 240 warheads since it began producing nuclear warheads way before.
A financially crunched Pakistan is no where near getting a nuclear submarine while China has 10 of them in it's 62-submarine fleet, with three of them being SSBNs which are armed with long-range strategic missiles. India, in comparison has just 15 conventional and ageing diesel electric submarines but is also on a fast track induction process with multiple orders placed with Indian and foreign shipyards for state-of-the-art submarines.
INS Arihant is extremely crucial to India's nuclear deterrence doctrine, which revolves around a clear "no-first-use" policy. A robust and survivable second-strike capability is hugely dependent on having multiple nuclear-powered submarines, armed with SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), which can operate silently underwater for several months at a time.
The INS Arihant, which was launched in July 2009, would have potent SLBM capabilities to complete the triad. With INS Arihant's miniature 83 MW pressurized light-water reactor slated to go "critical" within a month or two for sea-acceptance trials, Navy also seems quite confident about ongoing undersea tests of the 700-km Indian K-15 and 3,500-km K-4 SLBM's.
The 6,000-tonne INS Arihant, which has four silos on it's hump to carry 12 K-15's or four extended range K-4's will be followed by another two nuclear submarines under a secretive Rs 30,000 crore Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project.
The Indian Navy intends to have three SSBN's and six SSN's (nuclear-powered attack submarines) in the years ahead. The force will also finally induct the K-152 Nerpa submarine, on a 10-year lease from Russia, towards April or May 2011 after several delays.
However, the 12,000-tonne Nerpa will not come armed with long-range missiles due to international treaties but it will surely help train Indian sailors in the complex art of operating nuclear submarines. It will also be a lethal hunter of enemy submarines and warships, armed with torpedoes and 300-km Klub-S cruise missiles.
The INS Arihant is to be the first of the expected five in the class of nuclear submarines designed and constructed as a part of the Indian Navy's secretive Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) Project. The submarine is reported to be similar to the Russian Charlie-II class submarine, which India leased from the Soviet Union between 1988 and 1991.
