India Inducts INS Arihant in Secrecy, Completes its Nuclear Triad
The Arihant is a 6,000-tonne submarine capable of carrying out nuclear attacks from sea.
In what is a big step towards improving India’s defence capabilities, a NewsX report claims that India has joined a select group of countries which boast of the capability to carry out nuclear attacks from sea, land and air.
According to the report India has stealthily completed its nuclear triad by inducting the indigenously built nuclear submarine INS Arihant In August 2016, when Prime Minister Modi quietly commissioned INS Arihant into the Indian Navy.
Earlier, in February, the country got its first indigenously built nuclear armed submarine INS Arihant after it was declared ready for operations.
The Arihant is heralded as a remarkable technological achievement for the Indian Navy by defence experts, and makes India one of the few countries in the world which have mastered the ability to design and build an SSBN (ship submersible ballistic nuclear).
The 6,000-tonne submarine was built with Russian help, and went critical in 2013.
The submarine's design is based on the Russian Akula-1 class submarines and its 83 MW pressurised water reactor has been built with significant Russian assistance.
The submarine has a 100-member crew trained by Russian specialists.
The Arihant’s inclusion to the Navy’s fleet is of great significane because it greatly enhances India’s second strike capability, which is particularly important for the country as it follows a ‘No-First-Use’ policy as part of its nuclear doctrine. Hence, providing it with a reliable option to respond to any aggression.
Arihant can carrying nuclear tipped ballistic missiles, which assures India the capability to strike back if its hit by a nuclear weapons first.
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