India’s nuclear-powered INS Arihant conducts submarine-launched ballistic missile test

Asia-Pacific, News October 16, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Indian navy fired a ballistic missile from its nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant. The test was conducted on October 15, 2022.

India has become the world’s sixth country to have the capability to fire ballistic missiles from a nuclear-powered submarine.

According to a statement released by the Indian ministry of defense, the tested missile was endogenously produced by India and it was fired also from an “indigenous” nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant. The statement further said that the launch was proof of “crew competency” and validated the ballistic missile capability of Indian submarines, “a key element of India’s nuclear deterrence capability.”

The launch test was conducted at the Bay of Bengal where INS Arihant is present on its usual operational deployment. India is now the sixth country among China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States to possess submarine-launched ballistic missile capability.

INS Arihant is India’s first homemade nuclear submarine launched in 2009. India has since developed two surface-to-surface submarine-launched missiles, one of which has a range of 3,500 km.

India has been trying to push its military modernization program while particularly focusing on naval defense capabilities to counter China’s increasing regional influence. Earlier in September this year, India made a major leap in naval defense capability by inducting one of its first locally built aircraft carriers, INS Vikrant. It took India 17 years of construction and testing before the new ship became operational for the Indian Navy. The 262 meters long aircraft carrier was built at India’s largest state-owned shipyard in the south.

*^{India’s nuclear-powered submarine conducts test launch of SLBM. (Image Credit: India’s Ministry of Defence/Press Information Bureau)}*

However, experts have questioned India’s maritime growth as it lacks modern capabilities. The INS Vikrant lacks the fleet of its own fighter jets and aircraft. The ship would rely on Russian-made MiG-29K fighter jets and FA-18F Super Hornets. India operates the same MiG-29K fighter jets from its other aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, which India bought from Russia.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had also been working on developing its own aerial capabilities. India is trying to strike a deal with Boeing and France’s Dassault aviation company to provide more than two dozen jets for the INS Vikrant. However, the agreement is still in its initial phases. India recently unveiled the first batch of Indian-made attack helicopters, designed for use in high-altitude areas like the Himalayas where its troops clashed with China in 2020.

India is one of the largest arms importers in the world and spends a fair amount on importing arms and weapons majorly due to its rivalry with Pakistan and China. India is one of the few nuclear-capable nations in Asia that has a clear tendency towards the U.S. and its western bloc.

The safety of India’s nuclear capabilities came into question in March 2022, when India mistakenly fired a nuclear-capable missile into Pakistan. Pakistan’s military said a “high-speed flying object” had crashed near the eastern city of Mian Channu and its flight path had endangered passenger flights. Fortunately, the missile was not armed with a warhead. Delhi reported the incident as a technical malfunction and said it was “deeply regrettable”.