The Arihant-class () is a class of ballistic missile submarines in service with the Indian Navy. They were developed under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project to design and build nuclear-powered submarines. The project is being seen as a black project. These vessels are classified as strategic strike nuclear submarines by India.
After , the lead ship of the class, was commissioned in August 2016, India became the only country outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to operate a ballistic missile submarine. INS Arihant and are already on deep sea patrols by 25 October 2024.
History In December 1971, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the US President, Richard Nixon, sent a carrier battle group, named Task Force 74, led by the nuclear-powered into the international waters of the Bay of Bengal in a show of force. Task Force 74 remained in international waters, where it was legally entitled to be. The records of Nixon-Kissinger communications show no contingency nor any plan under which Enterprise would enter Indian or Pakistani waters, or otherwise intervene in the conflict but it is well known that the duo viewed Pakistan as a strong ally in that region and were silent on the Bangladesh genocide committed by Pakistani military. In response, the Soviet Union sent a submarine armed with nuclear missiles from Vladivostok to trail the US task force in support of India. The event demonstrated the significance of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile submarines to the then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Following the Smiling Buddha nuclear test in 1974, the Director of Marine Engineering (DME) at Naval Headquarters initiated a technical feasibility study for an indigenous nuclear propulsion system for a submarine by a small task force, led by a Commander-ranked officer, under Project 932 in coordination with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
The Indian Navy's Advanced Technology Vessel project to design and construct a nuclear submarine took shape in the 1990s. Then Defence Minister George Fernandes confirmed the project in 1998. The initial intent of the project was to design nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, though following nuclear tests conducted by India in 1998 at Pokhran Test Range and the Indian pledge of no first use, the project was re-aligned towards the design of a ballistic missile submarine in order to complete India's nuclear triad.
Description
General characteristics The first two submarines are long with a beam of , a draught of , displacement of . The latter submarines included an additional -long section of four launch tubes increasing the displacement by . The complement is about 95, including officers and sailors. The submarines, being constructed at the Ship Building Centre (SBC), Visakhapatnam using a US HY-80 grade equivalent Russian steel, has two compartments including propulsion and combat management systems, platform management centre, and the torpedo room. The vessels feature a double hull encompassing ballast tanks, two standby auxiliary engines, and a retractable thruster for emergency power and mobility.
Propulsion system The boats are powered by a single seven blade propeller powered by an 82.5 MWe-rated pressurised light-water reactor (PWR) powered by highly enriched uranium fuel. and can achieve a maximum speed of when surfaced and when submerged.
Weapon systems
The initial batch of two submarines have four launch tubes in their hump and can carry up to twelve K-15 Sagarika missiles with one warhead each (with a range of ) or four K-4 missiles (with a range of ). The third and fourth submarines, featuring Arihant Stretch design, will have a larger configuration, carrying twenty-four K-15 Sagarika or eight K-4 missiles, due to the addition of four launch tubes. The Indian Navy personnel received training on , an leased from Russia in 2012.
The submarine's K-15 missiles can reach most of Pakistan and its K-4 can target all of Pakistan. The K-4 may also be capable of targeting Beijing, but would need to be in the northern most waters of Bay of Bengal. Deployment of the Arihant to the Pacific Ocean is unlikely given the submarine's noise issues.
Prior to her retirement in 2003, INS Karanj served as trials as platform for validating the command and communication systems for the Arihant-class including the Rani and Pachendriya sonar equipment.
Development
The Arihant-class submarines are nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines built under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. Originally, three submarines were authorised under the ATV project, at a cost of , which itself is part of a larger programme to construct five nuclear submarines for the Indian Navy. Later, a fourth submarine was added. These are the first nuclear submarines designed and built by India. The overall project cost had hiked to by 2017.
The classified project is headquartered in New Delhi and remains under direct supervision of the Prime Minister's Office and the National Security Advisor. Larsen & Toubro undertook critical detailed engineering based on design provided by the Navy and DRDO at its submarine design centre. The firm was also the single largest contributor to the programme ranging from the steel cutting of the submarines to their launch. The facility served as the site for hull construction. Tata Power SED built the control systems for the submarine. The steam turbines and associated systems integrated with the reactor were supplied by Walchandnagar Industries. Former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, had lauded ATV project as a "productive public–private partnership".
On 24 December 2009, the Hindustan Shipyard, located at Visakhapatnam, was transferred from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence to support the construction of Arihant-class submarine programme. This would help in utilising the shipyard's infrastructure in the project.
Prototype light water reactor The miniaturised version of the reactor was designed and built by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam. It included a section of the submarine's pressure hull containing the shielding tank with water and the reactor, a control room, as well as an auxiliary control room for monitoring safety parameters. The prototype reactor became critical on 11 November 2003 and was declared operational on 22 September 2006. Successful operation of the prototype for three years enabled the production version of the reactor for Arihant. The reactor subsystems were tested at the Machinery Test Center in Visakhapatnam. Facilities for loading and replacing the fuel cores of the naval reactors in berthed submarines were also established. The prototype 83 MW light water reactor that was installed at Kalpakkam by BARC is codenamed S1 and is used to train nuclear submariners.
Project timeline
1970–2000 1974: The nuclear submarine project was sanctioned following the Smiling Buddha tests under the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. 1983: Additional funds were allotted for the project during the Fourth Indira Gandhi ministry. 1998: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam cut the first steel for the submarine hull at the Larsen & Toubro facility at Hazira. L&T had received the submarine hull construction contract. Simultaneously, the submarine's design was upgraded from nuclear attack profile to nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine following Pokhran-II.
2001–10 2006: A high-level committee led by R. Chidambaram, the then principal scientific advisor to the Government of India, assessed India's ability to construct three S5 series of SSBNs. The project, with a budget of , was assigned to DRDO, BARC and the ATV headquarters. The construction would tentatively begin in 2015 followed with the first submarine to be deployed in 2021. The projected specifications included a displacement of , 12 VLS with an MIRV-equipped SLBM with a range of . The missile later evolved as K-6 ballistic missile. 2007: The then finance minister, P. Chidambaram, member of the political committee monitoring the ATV programme, questioned the huge amount of money being spent on submarines with just 4 missile launch tubes. Thereafter, the ATV project team evolved the design into Arihant-stretch. The improved design incorporated a 10-metre-long section for four more missile tubes to be equipped with K-4 SLBMs. This design would be applied to S4 boat. The boat would then have capacity for 24 B-05 short-range or 8 K-4 long-range missiles. 12 February 2009: The Advanced Technology Vessel project, meant to deliver three submarines, is part of a $2.9 billion programme to build five nuclear submarines. As per the then Defence Minister, A. K. Antony, the first submarine was in the final stages of construction after supply chain bottlenecks were cleared and DRDO was already developing submarine-launched ballistic missile. The project was conceived in 1970s and operationalised in 1980s, though public acknowledgement never came from official sources until this announcement by the defence minister. There were delays to miniaturise the nuclear reactor core for the submarine and Russian technology help was sought to solve the issues without delays. Another factor that resulted in delays was lack of metallurgical expertise and lack of experience of Indian hull makers on the chosen material for the submarine. The successful development of a nuclear submarine came after two failed attempts in the 1970s and 1980s. 16 July 2009: Multiple reports suggested that the first vessel under the Advanced Technology Vessel would be launched by Gursharan Kaur, the wife of the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, on 26 July 2009. The ceremony would be held in Naval Dockyard (Visakhapatnam). The vessel was named , meaning "destroyer of enemies". The design is based on Charlie-I submarines, while both the displacement and submerged speed are higher than the Charlie-I designs. While being launched, the dry dock in the Shipbuilding Centre in Visakhapatnam will be flooded and the submarine would be moved out of the SBC. The vessel would be then towed to a nearby pier for harbour trials during which, the nuclear power plant and auxiliary systems would be validated before its sea trials in the Bay of Bengal. The submarine was expected to be commissioned within two to three years. Meanwhile, hull sections of two additional ATVs have been completed in the Hazira facility of Larsen & Toubro and are to be transported to the SBC soon after Arihant exits the dock space. 26 July 2009: The first submarine of the class, Arihant, was launched into the water. The launch took place after three decades of initiating the design stage of the project. The Defence Minister would also attended the event. The harbour acceptance and system trials was scheduled for one year. The submarine was built at a cost of $2.9 billion. Meanwhile, many expected that the operationalisation of the submarine would take much longer than two years. Harbour acceptance trials and followed by sea acceptance trials, including the surface and sub-surface domains, respectively, were to be conducted before commissioning the submarine. Even the nuclear reactor was yet to be fitted onboard and would be followed by the reactor reaching criticality, which would be a milestone. The submarine, equipped with Sagarika missiles, would serve as a technology demonstrator for the following nuclear submarines.
2011–20 2012: Another Arihant-class submarine was cleared for production to avoid idling of the production line since the S5 project remaining in developmental stage. The new unit, designated as S4* (between S4 and S5), would also feature the Arihant Stretch design.