Rajnath Singh to commission second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine 'Arighat'

By Anish Kumar | First Published Aug 28, 2024, 7:16 PM IST

Arighat is the first-of-class INS Arihant which was launched in July 2009. It was commissioned in August 2016. The third one was launched in November 2021 but has not been named yet.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be commissioning the second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) “Arighat” on Thursday at Visakhapatnam, a move will significantly enhance India's naval prowess, particularly concerning its strategic nuclear deterrence. It was launched in November 2017. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan will also grace the occasion.

Arighat is the first-of-class INS Arihant which was launched in July 2009. It was commissioned in August 2016. The third one was launched in November 2021 but has not been named yet. Built at Visakhapatnam-based Ship Building Centre (SBC), the Arighat has a length of 111.6 m, beam of 11 m, draught of 9.5 m, and a displacement of 6,000 tonnes.

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The submarine will have a top speed of 24 kt, and a surfaced speed of 10 kt. Like INS Arihant, the Arighat is also having four launch tubes in its hump and can carry up to four nuclear-capable K-4 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs) with a range of 3,500 kilometers.

Developed by DRDO, the K-4 SLBMs is variant of land-based ballistic missile Agni – III. It can also be equipped with 12 K-15 SLBMs. The K-15 is the variant of Shaurya and has a range of 750 to 1,500 km, depending on the size of the warhead.

It is pertinent to mention here that the construction, commissioning, testing and status of the nuclear submarines are directly under the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) or the Strategic Nuclear Command (SNC), which is under the control of the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office).

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