India to commission SSBN INS Arighat by end of end of 2024
India’s second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) will be commissioned in the next few months, as reported by Janes.
The submarine, which will be commissioned as INS Arighat by end 2024, is going to be formally inducted almost seven years after it was launched. Arighat was launched in Visakhapatnam in November 2017. As per data published earlier, It has a length of 111.6 m, beam of 11 m, draught of 9.5 m, and a displacement of 6,000 tonnes.
Arighat is the second of three SSBNs that have been launched by India. First-of-class INS Arihant was launched in July 2009 and commissioned in August 2016, while a third yet-to-be-named vessel was launched in November 2021. Ideally India needs 9 to 12 SSBN, armed with 12000km + range SLBMs, for establishing a firm and sturdy third leg of an assured strike back capability, after absorbing a first strike from any rogue adversary.
Built at the Indian Navy’s Ship Building Centre (SBC) in Vishakhapatnam, Arighat is powered by an 82.5 MW pressurised light water reactor (LWR) developed with Russian assistance. The submarine can achieve a top speed of 24 kt, and a surfaced speed of 10 kt.
The submarine is presently armed with 12 K-15 Sagarika submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), developed by India’s state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Later it may carry K5 SLBMs missiles having 5000km+ range.
Four large vertical launch system (VLS) tubes in the submarine carry these Sagarika SLBMs. Sagarika is a hybrid propulsion, two‐stage, solid‐propellant missile. The first stage lifts the missile to an altitude of about 4 km. The missile has a range of more than 700 km.
Arighat is built with Russian steel equivalent to US HY-80 grade. The submarine is divided into seven compartments, with main divisions for the propulsion and combat management systems, platform management centre, and the torpedo room. Arighat also features a double hull, encompassing ballast tanks, two standby auxiliary engines, and a retractable thruster for emergency power and mobility.
