Currently INS Arihant is undergoing harbour trials in the Bay of Bengal during which time the nuclear reactor will reach its criticality (a stage where the disintegration of uranium with respect to neutrons stabilises). The nuclear powered Submersible Ship Ballistic Missile (SSBN) first began to take shape in 1998 when the steel fabrication work began at Larsen and Tubros’ Hazira fabrication plant.
The nickname of the sub, Baby Boomer, is curious. Is it a snide remark or a compliment? The term is often used to describe someone who was born during the post-WWII baby population explosion in the West. Some consider the term disparaging while most baby boomers consider themselves gifts to the mankind as they were born during a phase when the economy was looking up. Now, with the launch of INS Arihant, has Indian defence begun to look up?
At 112 m long and with water displacement of about 6000 tonnes, the sub may not be a baby, but it’s no giant either. While it surpasses the current Indian fleet of Kilo and Charlie Class subs by 2000 tonnes, is longer than the Charlie Class sub India had taken on lease from Russia by 9 m and at a submerged speed of 24 knots (44 km/h) — otherwise 15 knots (28 km/h) — it matches the USS Ohio Class in speed, the speed is not enough to chase warships. The extra length is to accommodate 4 missile tubes, and its 10 m beam is the same size as that of a Charlie Class sub.
Some speculations in the media about the design of the sub have now proved wrong. The towed sonar at the aft may be like the Akula Class, but the design is neither of Akula II nor of the Graney Class, which have twin hull designs and are powered by reactors with more than double the power of the one used in Arihant. In all probability, the new sub is a result of Russian consultancy based on its experience with Charlie II Class subs and India’s own experience of handling 1500 tonne German HDW 209 Shishumar Class subs in the form of INS Shalki and INS Shankul.
The INS Arihant will be fitted with 6 torpedoes, 6 Agni III ballistic missiles and 6 K 15 missiles [the latter is another well guarded project of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)]. The missile tubes will also be modified to possibly fire Brahmos missiles, which would upgrade Arihant’s Classification from an SSBN to an SSGN (where ‘G’ stands for guided missile).
The fire power of INS Arihant, believed to complete the nuclear deterrent triad of India, is not too awe inspiring without Agni III. The K-15 (misconstrued often as Sagarika), with its 700 km range, is not of much use against Pakistan, let alone China, if in the situation of a war India must hit deep inside the enemy territory.
At the heart of the Arihant is an 85 mW nuclear reactor which will power it for at least 3 decades. It is a light water reactor and is based on Russian design after the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) failed to provide a stable design necessary for a reactor enclosed in a small space. The reactor capability is in stark contrast with capabilities of the Indian first Nuclear reactor ‘The Cirrus” which was a 40 mW heavy water reactor gifted to the BARC by Canada for research. It is propelled by a single 7 blade propeller; the sonar has been supplied by Bharat Electronics Limited. The indigenously built submarine-sonar USHUS has been in use in Sindhughosh Class (kilo Class) submarines for a long time.
INS Arihant: Too little, too late
The country is already too late. After India declared its nuclear doctrine of no first use in 1998, it lacked a water based second strike capability so that it may complete the triad of ground, air and water attack bases. To fill this void, the DRDO pushed forward the development of nuclear capable Brahmos and Akash cruise missiles, which could be launched from a frigate or destroyer. Due to this, the indigenous submarine programme was put on the backburner. But what a submarine second strike capability brings is stealth and deep penetration attack, neither of which was possible with regular attack ships. A diesel-run sub has to emerge from beneath the sea again and again to exhaust the accumulated carbon dioxide (or snorkel), thereby risking visibility and counterattack by the enemy. A nuclear powered sub, on the other hand, has no such constraint of frequent waste disposal. However, Diesel-electric submarines have the advantage of low noise. The coolant pumps and turbo-machinery needed to operate the reactor create a lot of noise in nuclear submarines even at low power levels. Recent technological advances in sound damping, noise isolation, and cancellation — which are incorporated in the INS Arihant — have made nuclear subs quieter and substantially addressed the issue.
The US had developed its first nuclear powered submarine in the early 1960s about the same time as the Soviets. But the Soviet nuclear submarine programme slowed down after the disintegration of the USSR. Now the Chinese have around 100 submarines of which 10 are Nuclear Submarines most of which are products of their indigenous weapons development program ‘Project 48’. China will soon be deploying its Type 95 and Type 96 nuclear sub in the Indian Ocean on account of its recent military closeness with Sri Lanka and Myanmar. To keep up in the arms race, India got into a shopping spree of second-hand arms, ordering aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov and Akula Class nuclear submarine Nerpa. The second will arrive by the year-end; to compliment it India decided to produce a few licensed diesel-run submarines, namely, the Scopene subs from the Mazgaon docks. But this is no solution. The countries supplying these have figured out India’s dire need and are seemingly arm-twisting the Government of India by constantly raising the prices of critical components.
Indigenous technology is the way to go but like most of our indigenous defence equipment, the INS Arihant has its share of shortcomings. In 2008, a Sindhughosh Class submarine had collided with a civilian ship off the Diu coast. Investigation revealed that the USHUS sonar navigation had failed to detect the ship as the submarine was surfacing.
The submarine is yet to undergo several more rounds of trial to test its overall efficacy as a stealth war tool. The most critical aspect to be tested is the working (mainly efficiency) of the 80 mW reactor. Once the reactor is found to be performing steadily, for several days and months it will do the rounds of the Vizag harbour while its controls are tested. That will follow high-speed runs in the sea. Then come underwater trials. For the next two years of testing time, the crew will remain unchanged.
SLBMs will be tested from INS Arihant thereafter. It is believed in Navy circles that even after all these tests meet with success, it generally takes about 5 years for the crew to get fully accustomed to the handling of the sub.
But for now the India has joined a exclusive club of countries who have developed a nuclear submarine. The hulls of two more ATVs have been completed by L&T at its Hazira facility and are to be transported to the Ship Building Centre for assembly soon after the Arihant vacates dock space। And with the breaking of coconut on its hull, India’s precious ($ 2.9 b) ‘Baby Boomer’ propels its way in the country’s maritime area with the promise that it will be more aggressive than what is being politically called a “technology demonstrator”.
Edited by Surajit Dasgupta.
