Indian Navy will induct the second nuclear-powered submarine of the nation in the early months of 2023. The sea trails of the submarine are going to finish soon. INS Arighat is a upgraded varient of the Arihant-class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines currently being built for the Indian Navy. The submarine has four missile launching tubes. She can carry up to 12 K-15 Sagarika missiles (each with a range of 750 km or 470 mi), or four of the under-development K-4 missiles (with a range of 3,500 km or 2,200 mi).
INS Arighat had been spotted on satellite imagery since the last two years, during its sea trials.
Arighat is the sister ship of the INS Arihant, the first Indigenously-developed nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine of the Indian Navy. Although the Arihant series of nuclear submarines are smaller if compared with western submarines, but they carry enough firepower to meet the requirements of the Indian Navy.
INS Arighat was quietly launched in 2017 and little has been publicly announced about its capabilities and current status. The submarine was originally known as INS Aridhaman but was renamed INS Arighat upon its launch.
The boat has one seven-blade propeller powered by a pressurised water reactor. It can achieve a maximum speed of 12–15 knots (22–28 km/h) when on surface and 24 knots (44 km/h) when submerged.
Construction of this submarine started in 2011 and was completed in 2017. Although most of the details of the submarine are classified, but we have some approximate details about the submarine. The submarine has the length of 300+ ft, arighat is powered by one CLWR-B1 Compact Light-water reactor which generates a power output of 83MW.
India has also planned to develop a new class of next-generation nuclear-powered submarines to succeed the Arihant-class submarines.
Indian Government has planned to design the S5 Class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. These new submarines will weigh around twice as much as the preceding Arihant-class submarine. Their production is expected to start by 2025.
Three submarines of the S5 Class are planned, these submarines will have the displacement of 13,500 tonnes (13,300 long tons; 14,900 short tons).
They are planned to be armed with up to twelve or sixteen K6 Submarine-launched ballistic missiles with the range of, each armed with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles.
These submarines will be powered by one CLWR-B2 Compact Light-water reactor which generates a power output of 190 MW (250,000 hp).
Detailed information about the Arihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines of the Indian Navy
The Arihant-class is a class of Indian nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines being built for the Indian Navy. They were developed under the ₹900 billion (US$11 billion) Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project to design and build nuclear-powered submarines. These vessels are classified as ‘strategic strike nuclear submarines’ by India.
The lead vessel of the class, INS Arihant was launched in 2009, and after extensive sea trials, was confirmed to be commissioned in August 2016. Arihant holds the distinction of being the first ballistic missile submarine to have been built by a country other than one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
The Arihant-class are the first nuclear submarines designed and built by India. The submarines are 111 m (364 ft) long with a beam of 11 m (36 ft), a draught of 15 m (49 ft), displacement of 6,000 tonnes (5,900 long tons; 6,600 short tons). The complement is about 95, including officers and sailors. The boats are powered by a single seven blade propeller powered by an 83 MW pressurised water reactor and can achieve a maximum speed of 12–15 knots (22–28 km/h) when surfaced and 24 knots (44 km/h) when submerged.
The submarines of the Arihant-class have four launch tubes in their hump and can carry up to twelve K-15 Sagarika missiles with one warhead each (with a range of 750 km or 470 mi) or four K-4 missiles (with a range of 3,500 km or 2,200 mi). The third and fourth submarines of the class will have a larger configuration, carrying twenty-four K-15 Sagarika or eight K-4 missiles.
The submarine’s K-15 missiles can reach most areas of Pakistan and it’s K-4 can target all of Pakistan areas. The K-4 may also be capable of targeting Beijing, but would need to be launched from the northern most waters of Bay of Bengal.