News Highlight
INDIA’S STRATEGIC Strike Nuclear Submarine INS Arihant on Friday carried out a successful launch of a Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM).
The Ministry of Defence has said that the test is significant for the SSBN programme, which is a crucial element of India’s nuclear deterrence capability.
Key Takeaways
- The missile was tested to a predetermined range and impacted the target area in the Bay of Bengal with very high accuracy.
- This trial was significant to prove crew competency and validate the SSBN (Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear Submarine) program.
INS Arihant
- INS Arihant is India’s first indigenously designed, developed and manufactured nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.
- Its design is based on the Russian Akula-1 class submarine.
- It was commissioned in 2009 and its reactor went critical in 2013, and it was commissioned in 2016.
- It is a strategic asset developed over two decades under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) program with the help of Russia, which comes directly under the Prime Minister-led Nuclear Command.
- INS Arihant is a 6,000-ton submarine with a length of 110 meters and a beam of 11 meters.
- It is powered by an 83 MW pressurized light water reactor with enriched uranium fuel.
- It can carry 12 Sagarika K 15 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with a range of 700 km.
Submarine-launched ballistic missile
- It is a family of indigenously developed Submarine Missiles. They are also referred to as K-family missiles, codenamed after Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
- Under SLBM, missiles of various ranges have been developed including K-15 also called Sagarika. It has a range of at least 750 km.
- India has also developed and tested the K-4 missiles from the same family, having a range of 3,500 km.
Pic Courtesy: The Economic Times
Content Source: The Hindu