| According
to reliable sources, the vital first test in ejecting a missile from its onboard
silos was conducted November 25. Proverbially, adding a feather to the cap of
the Indian Navy and scientists from DRDO and BARC, the firing was done remotely
from a far away location by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC), India’s nuclear
command authority which is tasked with creating nuclear deterrence. Primarily,
the test was to check system alignments for smooth and safe ejection and the requirements
were met. To mention more achievements, the indigenous submarine has also
successfully completed the critical diving tests, and significantly, met nearly
all its design and designated parameters just about 100 per cent, including the
maximum possible power option tests. It is actually good news all over,
but the last one final step before the submarine is inducted as INS Arihant formally
in the Indian Navy will be the firing of proper missiles albeit with unarmed warheads.
Details are unavailable but this should happen soon enough as there are indications
of the submarine taking part in the International Fleet Review (IFR) being held
by the Navy in February. The boat should be operational by then, sources
told India Strategic. The
missile fired was a dummy version of DRDO’s B 5, which approximately has a range
of 1000 km. Later, missiles with a reach of 3500 to 4000 km, are likely to be
inducted onboard.
India
plans to build some half a dozen Arihant class, in line with the country’s nuclear
doctrine which calls for No First Use but Massive Retaliation if attacked. Arihant
is built with Russian designs, and this will be the country’s first nuclear powered
nuclear attack submarine, classified in international naval lingo as SSBN. India
has one more nuclear powered submarine, INS Chakra, leased from Russia, but that
cannot fire nuclear missiles. The classification for such boats is SSN.
Like
any submarine, both INS Arihant and INS Chakra are pearl shaped to accommodate
the vertically launched missiles, and designed to move faster underwater than
on the surface. They can stay in oceanic depths and darkness for months, the only restrictions being
the limits of human tolerance, preservation of food and availability of nuclear fuel.
It may be recalled that the project for nuclear submarines was sanctioned
soon after the 1974 nuclear test by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi but it suffered
when Morarji Desai and VP Singh took over as Prime Ministers in the coming years.
In 1983, Mrs Gandhi pushed the project once again with required funds, but it
was in 1998, when India conducted the second round of nuclear tests, that Prime
Minister AB Vajpayee sanctioned the project afresh, and a decision was also taken
to involve the private sector. Larsen & Toubro, India’s premier engineering construction
company, was involved right from then onwards. L&T, as it is known, has
done commendable work in gradually and systematically building a horizontal supply-chain
base and meeting the DRDO and naval specifications. DRDO, or Defence Research
and Development Organisation, has been in-charge of the India’s missile systems
programmes throughout, which it has delivered with distinction. Nuclear propulsion
systems have been installed and managed by experts from BARC, or Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre. Indications of Arihant’s journey have been coming out for
some time, and recently, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Robin Dhowan mentioned
the possibility of its inclusion in the IFR in rather positive terms although
he did not understandably commit. The tests are done one by one, and for
a nuclear boat, every single check is critical. Deployment has to be done thoughtfully
and carefully, even if it takes time as safety and success are both paramount. Notably,
in IFR, only operational ships and submarines can and will take part. India
Strategic extends Best Wishes to the Indian Navy, DRDO and BARC scientists.
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