INS Arighat | 31 Aug 2024

Recently, India commissioned its second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), INS Arighat (S-3) built under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project.

INS Arighat will now join its forerunner, INS Arihant, which became fully operational in 2018, to strengthen the country’s ‘nuclear triad’- the capability to fire nuclear weapons from the land, air and sea.
- INS Arighat, despite matching INS Arihant in size and displacement, can carry more K-15 missiles.
- Power: 83 MW pressurised light-water reactors, developed with Russian assistance.
- Arighat has four large vertical launch system (VLS) tubes that carry the Sagarika SLBMs (K-15) - a hybrid propulsion, two‐stage, solid‐propellant missile with a range of more than 700 km
Future developments: Third submarine INS Aridhaman, a 7,000 tonne vessel, capable of carrying K-4 missiles with a range of 3,500 km will be commissioned next year.
SSBN stands for "Ship, Submersible, Ballistic, Nuclear" and refers to a type of submarine that carries nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.
- SSBNs are crucial for deterrence because they are difficult to detect and can escape a surprise first strike by an enemy to launch retaliatory strikes.