Indigenous nuclear powered submarine INS Arihant to head out for sea trials

Indigenous nuclear powered submarine INS Arihant to head out for sea trials

India's quest for a secure seaborne nuclear deterrent is set for a giant stride when its first indigenously constructed nuclear submarine the INS Arihant begins sea trials next week.
Naval sources indicated a casting-off date of Monday, December 15, and preparations are currently underway at the Shipbuilding Centre, Visakhapatnam to ensure a smooth sail out for the 6,000-tonne nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN).

"It will be a surfaced sortie, but a great milestone nevertheless," naval officials told India Today.

It has been a slow crawl for the Arihant since she was launched at the shipbuilding centre in Vizag on July 26, 2009. It was four years before the next major milestone could be crossed, in August 2013 when the 83MW reactor onboard the submarine went critical.

Navy chief Admiral Robin Dhowan told mediapersons on December 3 that the submarine would commence its sea trials "very soon" and attributed the five-year time lag to the complexity of the platform and its equipment. Sources say the navy chief Admiral Dhowan wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be present at the cast-off, but it failed to materialize because of scheduling reasons.

Naval officials say the sea sortie marks the first in a series of steps-submerged sea trials and weapon firing trials which the submarine will have to cover before she is ready for induction into the navy, a process which could take another year.

The navy plans a fleet of five SSBNs, all of them capable of firing nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles from under the sea. Two more Arihant class submairnes are being fabricated at the SBC in Vizag and are likely to be inducted over the next five years.

India currently operates one nuclear submarine, the INS Chakra (the ex Russian sub 'Nerpa') taken on a ten-year lease from Russia in 2012. One of the items on the agenda of recent summit-level talks between Russian President Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have been the lease of a second SSN, the unfinished 'Iribis', left unfinished after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

 

Iribis is Akula improved class submarine laid down in 1994 Construction halted at 60% completion. May be completed and leased to India.

 

Any news on Indian built SSN???

 

Cant wait for the K-15 test.

 

India’s first indigenous nuclear submarine gears up for maiden sea trials
NEW DELHI: India's first indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant is now finally all set to make its maiden foray into the wide-open sea. The 6,000-tonne vessel, with an 83MW pressurized light-water reactor at its core for propulsion, is slated to begin its sea trials off Visakhapatnam within the next few days.

INS Arihant, or the "annihilator of enemies'', and its two under-construction follow-on vessels are the critical missing link in the country's long-standing pursuit to have an operational nuclear weapons triad — the capability to fire nuclear warhead from land, air and sea.

While the Agni ballistic missiles and fighter-bombers constitute the first two legs, the triad's missing underwater leg has for long troubled the country's strategic establishment. Nuclear-powered submarines armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles (SSBNs), after all, are considered the triad's most difficult-to-detect and effective leg. There is also growing concern over China stepping up its submarine activity in the Indian Ocean.


The INS CHKARA.

The much-awaited milestone on the INS Arihant front comes just a fortnight after Navy chief Admiral Robin Dhowan said it would "very soon" head for sea trials. "The submarine's miniaturized reactor, which went critical in August 2013, has now attained 100% power. The power had to be slowly stepped up, just 5-10% at a time, with systematic pressure and other checks on all pipelines and machinery being conducted every time," said a source.

Fingers are now being kept crossed that there are no major hiccups during INS Arihant's sea-acceptance trials (SATS), which can take around 18 months, after the long-drawn harbour-acceptance trials (HATs) at the ship-building centre at Vizag.

READ ALSO: Rattled by Chinese submarines, India starts rebuilding fleet

The submarine will first undertake several surface sorties before it dives for a full range of underwater sorties. The SATs will also include test-firing of its K-15 ballistic missiles (750km range), which has so far been tested only from submersible pontoons around a dozen times.

The K-15 SLBM — INS Arihant can carry 12 of them in its four silos — is short-range compared to the well over 5,000km SLBMs brandished by the US, Russia and China. But an over 2,000km range K-4 missile, tested for the first time in March this year, is also in the works.

The next SSBN, S-3 or INS Aridhaman, is also now ready for "launch" into water, while the third called S-4 is at an advanced fabrication stage in the building blocks. Simultaneously, the proposed project to build six SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines without ballistic missiles) at Vizag is also being finalized, as earlier reported by TOI.

READ ALSO: Rs 80,000 crore worth defence projects cleared, 6 submarines to be built in India

The Navy currently operates one SSN in the shape of INS Chakra, obtained on a 10-year lease for Russia for around $1 billion, while negotiations are underway to acquire another such boat. While these submarines have short-range cruise missiles, they are not armed with nuclear missiles because of international treaties like the Missile Technology Control Regime.

 

The pix above is not of Arihant.

 

Who is the article writer that doesn't even know what the boat he's writing about looks like?

 

this media not having too much knowledge about subs so they paste any pics forget this but they mention two in construction one is ardhimun where is next one is same class or improved?.
India’s first indigenous nuclear submarine gears up for maiden sea trials - The Times of India

 

The next two are same class and same type of boats

 

Indian Navy plans to have five SSBN Submarine in seven years
DC CORRESPONDENT | December 15, 2014, 07.12 am IST

Mumbai: The launch of the submarine INS Arihant on July 26 in 2009, saw history being created as India became the sixth nation in the world after the US, UK, France, Russia and China, to develop nuclear-powered submarines.

Another milestone was achieved when the miniaturised nuclear reactor on board the submarine went “critical” in August last year.
INS Arihant can also carry and nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles while submerged. It is classified as a Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN). India plans to have five such home-built SSBNs over the next seven years.

The Indian Navy currently operates a Russian nuclear submarine called the INS Chakra that has been leased from the Russians for a ten-year period, for training its personnel before the INS Arihant is inducted into the force.

 

we also need SSNs atleast 10 of them.

 

we also need SSNs atleast 10 of them.

 

6 SSN and 3(arihant)+2(russian) + 6 scorpion +arihant follow on class is this ok?

 

This is the pix of Arihant. Please check the side view which is very much like that of latest Russian Borie class. This sub has one the most modern noise suppression systems onboard and is supposed to be one of the quietest nukes in the world.

 

this another pics saying this is Arihant is this pics sub is really arihant....?..such a beautiful pics