India's Next Nuclear Sub Ready: INS Aridhman Nearing Commissioning, Says Navy Chief

A new nuclear-powered submarines will be joining the Indian Navy's fleet in the near future. This is a ballistic, missile-firing vessel being manufactured indigenously. Another two nuclear-powered submarines, these are of the hunter-killer variety, are under construction. Speaking to reporters today, the Navy chief, Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, said the INS Aridhman, the ballistic submarine being made indigenously, will be commissioned soon. He added that currently, trials, which are time-consuming, are going on. The Aridhman is the third ballistic nuclear-powered submarine, with the Navy. It already has the INS Arihant and the INS Arighaat. Both weigh about 6,000 tons. The Arihant was commissioned in 2016 and it was the beginning of the Advanced

Technology Vessel or ATV project. This was after it was launched in 2009. It carries missiles that are nuclear-capable. The Arighaat, launched around 2017, was commissioned in 2024. Both submarines are powered by compact light water reactors. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has already cleared the project to build two attack nuclear-powered submarines. There is a plan, but yet to be cleared by the government, to build four more. The first two are expected to be ready in a decade, in the mid-2030s. In the past, India had leased two nuclear powered submarines from the Soviet Union/Russia. Both of them were named INS Chakra. The first came in the late-1980s and the second, an Akula-class submarine, came in 2021. Both were leased as under international law, a nuclear-powered submarine or similar weapons systems cannot be sold by one country to another. There are discussions regarding the lease for a third.The submarines are part of a nuclear triad, which India believes is an essential feature of deterrence. The triad comprises bombers carrying nuclear weapons, land-based missiles and submarines capable of firing nuclear-tipped missiles or SLBMs (Submarine Launched Ballistic missiles). The nuclear-powered submarine is a crucial part of the triad as it is harder to detect and destroy. It can stay at the bottom of the ocean for long periods and fire its missiles from a distance away. Very few countries of the world have the triad.