India’s first nuclear submarine INS Arihant ready for operations, passes deep sea tests

[SR-91]

India’s first nuclear armed submarine is now ready for full fledged operations, having passed several deep sea diving drills as well as weapons launch tests over the past five months and a formal induction into the naval fleet is only a political call away.

Multiple officials closely associated with the project to operationalize the INS Arihant nuclear missile submarine have confirmed to ET that the indigenously-built boat is now fully-operational and over the past few months, several weapon tests have taken place in secrecy that have proven the capabilities of the vessel.

The Arihant, which is the first of five nuclear missile submarines or SSBNs planned for induction, has also undergone deep sea dives off Vishakhapatnam where it was build. A Russian diving support ship —the RFS Epron that arrived on October 1 — has been accompanying the Arihant on its deep sea dives and launch tests, officials told ET.

The Epron — a Prut class submarine rescue vessel — was also the Russian representation for the recently concluded International Fleet Review (IFR) in Vishakhapatnam. India does not currently possess a submarine rescue vessel of this class – a vital requirement during weapon firing tests where all possibilities need to be catered for.

The Arihant incidentally did nottake part in the IFR even though it was ready due to security concerns. The presence of 24 foreign warships, equipped with sensors and equipment that could pick up vital electronic intelligence being the main deterrent.

The Navy has managed to keep under wraps several weapon launch tests from the Arihant over the past five months. The submarine is to be equipped with K 15 (or BO-5) shortrange missiles with a range of over 700 km and the K 4 ballistic missile with a range of 3,500 km. “It has passed all tests and in many things has surpassed our expectations.

Technically the submarine can now be commissioned at any time,” a senior official said. Sources told ETthat the commissioning date could be as early as next month if the Modi government desires. A communication facility to interact with the submarine has already been commissioned into the Navy.

At present, work is already in progress on two more Arihant class submarines at the Ship Building Center (SBC) in Vishakhapatnam which will be larger and more advanced than the first boat. The navy is also accelerating work on INS Varsha – a new strategic naval base with underground pens on the Eastern Coast near Kakinada – where the nuclear assets would be based.

The Navy’s Submarine Design Bureau is also presently working on a new class of nuclear powered attack submarines (SSNs) that it hopes to induct within the next 15 years. The plan is to build at least six SSNs in India, with financial sanction given last year for the project that could cost upwards of Rs 90,000 crore. At present, the only nuclear powered platform in service is the INS Chakra, a Akula class SSN on lease from Russia.



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This is big news as India's first indigenously-built nuclear submarine armed with K-04 is finally ready to be commissioned.
Congrats to all of my Indian brothers here.


@Abingdonboy @PARIKRAMA @AUSTERLITZ @MilSpec @nair @scorpionx @Vauban @SpArK @Icarus @anant_s @randomradio @cerberus @knight11 @Levina @ranjeet @raktaka @Armani @surya kiran@Water Car Engineer @Nilgiri @sathya @GORKHALI @Tshering22 @Brahmaputra Mail @Roybot @Skull and Bones @GURU DUTT @Guynextdoor2 @SRP @mpk1988 @ni8mare @danish_vij @AMCA @Ind4Ever
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[Guynextdoor2]

means even Aridhaman will be bigger than Arihant?

 

[$@rJen]

means even Aridhaman will be bigger than Arihant?

there's no much news about the size i think but Aridhaman's reactors are little more powerful than Arihant and it can carry more missiles than Arihant( Arihant carries 4 K-4 while Aridhaman could carry 8 k-4)

 

[Skull and Bones]

means even Aridhaman will be bigger than Arihant?

No, Aridhaman is of the same size as of Arihant, and it's hull is completed. These are follow ons, having close to 10k-12k tonnes displacement.

 

[PARIKRAMA]

What i understand is Arihant class will have same size 3 subs... So Aridhaman and another one after that should ideally be a carbon copy of Arihant.. Some also talk about 8 silos but i still doubt that owing to limits of a submarine design and work on this submarine has been going on for some good amount of time.

Post this the subs would be the heavier variant which will be powered by 190 MW reactors perhaps with almost 12K4-K5 possibility. These should be around 2.5X-3X times tonnage of Arihant Class and will be around 15-18K submerged displacement or may be more

Possibly when these submarines comes online in around 5-8 in numbers, Arihant class will be converted into a conventional strike role with perhaps a mixture of K15s and Nirbhays in line with say a SSGN type role.

The tonnage has to increase to accommodate heavier missiles like K5 whose height should be same as K4 but diameter should increase as well as accommodate first a 3 MIRV system and later perhaps a 5 MIRV system (flower shaped) to later 6-7 warheads inclusive of decoys... Thus 10-12K tonnage may not be enough to accommodate a K5 variant with 12 in numbers in a single submarine with 3 MIRV capability or 36 N tip warheads.. Possibly it will be closer to 2.5x to 3x tonnage and will be the true SSBN with blue water capability

 

[Ankit Kumar]

We will need 4 SSBNs to carry out 24/7/365 deterrent patrols with one Ssbn active at any given time.

Till that happenes the nuclear triad, is incomplete.

 

[Guynextdoor2]

No, Aridhaman is of the same size as of Arihant, and it's hull is completed. These are follow ons, having close to 10k-12k tonnes displacement.

I was referrrikng to this point- specifically states Arihant class.

At present, work is already in progress on two more Arihant class submarines at the Ship Building Center (SBC) in Vishakhapatnam which will be larger and more advanced than the first boat.

 

[mehboobkz]

No, Aridhaman is of the same size as of Arihant, and it's hull is completed. These are follow ons, having close to 10k-12k tonnes displacement.

Arihant & Aridhaman same size?
With apx double the displacement?

 

[PARIKRAMA]

Okies here is the confirmation from a good source.. THE WEEK from Aug 2015

Arihant and Aridhaman will be same size and powered by 83MW reactor

Then comes S3 Plus and 2 more named S4 and S5 are to be powered by 160 MW reactor . IMHO tonnage should be closer to 10-12K.

Beyond this perhaps will be the much larger boats with 190 MW reactor and almost 18K tonnage,

There is a slight change also as scorpenes subs follow on are now being discussed,,

Deep Designs

@Abingdonboy @MilSpec @Vauban @Taygibay @SpArK @AUSTERLITZ @nair @anant_s @SR-91

 

[Skull and Bones]

Arihant & Aridhaman same size?
With apx double the displacement?

Aridaman has same displacement as Arihant, those two are identical, the follow on Arihant series of SSBNs are almost double the size.

 

[PARIKRAMA]

@Ankit Kumar Do have a look on this post #9

 

[AnnoyingOrange]

This is what I love about Indian Navy... They get involved in projects form the very beginning... and they reap benefits out of it... thanks to Indian Navy India can now design and Build Most complex of the ships and Submarines... Unlike IAF.. that wants everything served on a platter... Navy has not only built capabilities.. but they have saved Billions of Dollars....unlike IAF that wants to import everything....

 

[$@rJen]

Arihant and Aridhaman will be same size and powered by 83MW reactor

but dude some sources are saying INS Aridhaman would have more powerful reactor than Arihant !!!

 

[PARIKRAMA]

Interesting is the 160MW reactor quoted by The week.. Its double size of Arihant/Aridhaman 83 MW reactor.. But lesser than 190 MW reactor..
The 190 MW reactor of INS Chakra is OK-650 and French uses K-15 or 150 MW reactor.. So our reactor is bang in the middle of these two perhaps..

Would be interesting to know % HEU reactor as OK-650 is around 20-45% HEU and is in use from 1980s..

I had been hearing that India is keen to convert LEU to HEU reactors increasing the life of the reactor to coincide with life of the boat.. The murmur was that via L&T Areva deal we are suppose to get that "tech".. DId not hear after that so may be its hush hush owing to black project status.

Oh one more thing, it seems the new reactor planned for 160MW may power our ACCs.. So technically our Nuclear powered ACC (INS Vishal class) work is also connected to this...

So is also perhaps our SSN projects which may be similar in size to Arihant class but will have reorganised things to incorporate more stealthier aspect and acoustic signature reduction techniques and noise reduction.. SOmething we are keen to learn new western technology via P75I SSK projects

 

[Bullet_500]

Awesome....we need bigger nuclear subs with 12-16 long range missiles. This is a small step towards self reliance. One must commend naval wing of armed forces.