INS Arihant
from Wikipedia
INS Arihant (S-73) is the lead ship of India's
Arihant class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. The 6,000
tonne vessel was built under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project
at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam.
The symbolic launch ceremony for the Arihant was
held on 26 July 2009, the anniversary of Vijay Diwas (Kargil War Victory
Day). The name of the vessel, Arihant is in Sanskrit and literally translates
into destroyer of enemies. The completion of the INS Arihant will make
India one of six countries in the world with the ability to design, build,
and operate its own nuclear submarines.
Design
The INS Arihant is to be the first of the expected
five in the class of submarines designed and constructed as a part of the
Indian Navy's secretive Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) Project. The Arihant
class submarines are reported to be comparable to the Akula I class submarines.
Their crew will have the opportunity to train on INS Chakra, a Akula class
submarine, which the Indian Navy leased from Russia. Arihant will be more
of "a technology demonstrator", rather than a fully operational SSBN according
to Admiral Verma.
The vessel will be powered by an 80 MW pressurized
water reactor with enriched uranium fuel. A land-based prototype of the
reactor was first built at Kalpakkam and made operational in September
2006. Successful |
Conceptual drawing of the INS Arihant
Name: |
INS Arihant |
Builder: |
Shipbilding Centre (SBC) |
Launched: |
26 Jully 2009 |
Commissioned: |
Trials |
Speed:
surfaced |
?? knots plus |
submerged |
?? knots plus |
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Displacement:
surfaced
submerged |
3,978 long tons (4,042
t)
4,270 long tons (4,339 t) |
Length: |
364 ft (111 m) |
Beam: |
49 ft (11m) |
Complement: |
95 - 100 officers and men |
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operation over a period of three years yielded the
data that enabled the production version for Arihant. It was reported that
a 80MW nuclear reactor was integrated into the hull of the ATV in January
2008.
The hull for the vessel was built by L&T's
Hazira shipbuilding facility. Tata Power built the control systems for
the submarine. The systems for the steam turbine integrated with the reactor
are supplied by Walchandnagar Industries.
Launch
INS Arihant, was introduced to the public on 26
July 2009 at a symbolic launch ceremony by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
wife Gursharan Kaur. The launch coincided with the tenth anniversary of
the conclusion of the Kargil War. and consisted of floating the vessel
by flooding the dry dock. Defense Professionals Daily claimed Arihant was
launched without key systems including its nuclear reactor, surveillance
equipment, and ordnance. Per naval tradition, Gursharan Kaur cracked a
coconut on the hull to mark the launch of the submarine at the secret naval
base 'Matsya' in Visakhapatnam. Photography was prohibited and photos showing
the complete vessel are not available. In his address to the crowd, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh billed the submarine as an outcome of a public-private
partnership. He also thanked Russia in his address stating "I would also
like to express our appreciation to our Russian friends for their consistent
and invaluable cooperation, which symbolizes the close strategic partnership
that we enjoy with Russia". The launch of Arihant strengthens India's endeavor
to build a credible nuclear triad -- the capability to fire nuclear weapons
from air, land and sea.
On the condition of anonymity, a nuclear scientist
familiar with the project echoed this report in response to the media coverage
that India had successfully launched a completed nuclear submarine. It
was also expected that the duplication of India's land based reactor, integration
of systems, and sea trials are expected to take three to five years.
In 2010, the submarine was claimed to have begun
its sea trials with the submarine to be formally inducted into the Indian
Navy by 2011. Full integration of key systems and sea trials are expected
to be extensive.
Status
Admiral Nirmal Verma told reporters on 7 August
2012 that sea trials of Arihant are commencing in coming months and she
is steadily progressing towards operationalisation. INS Arihant's reactor
is expected to go critical in first few months of 2013, with harbour acceptance
trials completed and sea trials expected later that year. On January 27,
2013, Sagarika, the primary armament of Arihant, completed its final developmental
test and will now be integrated with the submarine. On 7 May, DRDO chief
V. K. Saraswat told that the nuclear reactor on-board would be made critical
(activated) in next 2-3 weeks.
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Sagarika (missile)
from Wikipedia
K-15 Sagarika is a nuclear-capable submarine-launched
ballistic missile with a range of 700 kilometres (435 mi). It belongs to
the K Missile family and forms a part of India's nuclear triad, and will
provide retaliatory nuclear strike capability.
Development
Development of the K-15 missile started in the
late 1990s with the goal of building a submarine-launched ballistic missile
for use with the Indian Navy nuclear-powered Arihant class submarines.
Sagarika has a length of 10 metres (33 ft), diameter of 0.74 metres (2
ft 5 in), weighs 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of up to 1,000 kilograms
(2,205 lb) over 700 kilometres (435 mi). It was developed at the DRDO’s
missile complex in Hyderabad.
The development of the underwater missile launcher,
known as Project 420, was completed in 2001 and handed over to the Indian
Navy for trials. The missile launcher is developed at Hazira in Gujarat.
The Sagarika missile began integration with India's nuclear-powered Arihant
class submarine that began harbor trials on the 26 July 2009.
By 2008, the missile was successfully test fired
seven times, and tested to its full range up to four times. The tests of
February 26, 2008, were conducted from a submerged pontoon 50 metres (160
ft) beneath the surface off the coast of Visakhapatnam. A land-based version
of the K-15 Sagarika was successfully test-fired on November 12, 2008.
A full range test of the missile was done on 11 March 2012. The twelfth
and final development trial of the missiles was conducted on 27 January
2013. According to V.K. Saraswat, the missile was again tested for its
full range of 700 km and met all its objectives with a single digit impact-accuracy.
The test will be followed by integration of the missile with INS Arihant.
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