SLBM launch by INS Arihant
Source: By Sushant Kulkarni: The Indian Express
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 14 October 2022 that the indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarine INS Arihant had successfully launched a nuclear capable Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) in the Bay of Bengal with “very high accuracy”.
What are these potent assets, what is their strategic significance, and what do the postures of “credible minimum deterrence” and “no first use” highlighted by the government after the successful launch mean?
The Test
The SLBM was launched from the country’s first indigenous Strategic Strike Nuclear Submarine INS Arihant. The MoD said the test is significant for the nuclear ballistic submarine, or SSBN, programme, which is a crucial element of India’s nuclear deterrence capability.
“The missile was tested to a predetermined range and impacted the target area in the Bay of Bengal with very high accuracy. All operational and technological parameters of the weapon system have been validated,” the MoD said in a press statement on 14 October 2022. The Ministry described the test as a user training launch.
“The successful user training launch of the SLBM by INS Arihant is significant to prove crew competency and validate the SSBN programme… A robust, survivable and assured retaliatory capability is in keeping with India’s policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence’ that underpins its ‘no first use’ commitment,” the Ministry said.
The statement did not reveal the specifications and range of the missile that was launched on 14 October 2022. Sources suggested that it could have been the K-15 (also called Sagarika), belonging to the ‘K’ family of SLBMs, but no official confirmation was available.
The Submarine
Launched in 2009 and Commissioned in 2016, INS Arihant is India’s first indigenous nuclear powered ballistic missile capable submarine built under the secretive Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project, which was initiated in the 1990s.
INS Arihant and its class of submarines are classified as ‘SSBN’, which is the hull classification symbol for nuclear powered ballistic missile carrying submarines. While the Navy operates the vessel, the operations of the SLBMs from the SSBN are under the purview of India’s Strategic Forces Command, which is part of India’s Nuclear Command Authority.
In November 2019, after INS Arihant completed its first deterrence patrol, the government announced the establishment of India’s “survivable nuclear triad” — the capability of launching nuclear strikes from land, air and sea platforms. Then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had tweeted: “India has achieved completion of her nuclear triad with the first successful deterrence patrol by INS Arihant. This places India in the league of the few countries that can design, construct and operate Strategic Strike Nuclear Submarines (SSBN).”
The second submarine in the Arihant class, SSBN Arighat, is reported to have been launched in 2017, and said to be undergoing sea trials at present. In December last year, UK-based magazine Jane’s Defence Weekly reported, citing satellite imagery sources, that India had launched its third Arihant-class submarine.
In addition, India operates 15 conventional diesel electric submarines (classified as SSK), and some more are on the way.
The Missile
The Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), sometimes called the ‘K’ family of missiles, have been indigenously developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The family is codenamed after Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the centre figure in India’s missile and space programmes who also served as the 11th President of India.
Because these missiles are to be launched from submarines, they are lighter, more compact and stealthier than their land-based counterparts, the Agni series of missiles which are medium and intercontinental range nuclear capable ballistic assets. The development of the K family missiles has been done in consonance with the ATV project.
Part of the K family is the SLBM K-15, which is also called B-05 or Sagarika. It has a range of 750 km. INS Arihant can carry a dozen K-15 missiles on board. India has also developed and successfully tested K-4 missiles from the family, which have a range of 3,500 km.
In January 2020, two successful tests of the K-4 missile were conducted from submerged platforms, off the coast of Andhra Pradesh within a span of six days. These tests were a key step towards ultimately deploying K-4s on the INS Arihant. It is also reported that more members of K-family — reportedly carrying the code names K-5 and K-6, with a range of 5,000 km and 6,000 km respectively — are under development.
The Strategic Significance
The capability of being able to launch nuclear weapons submarine platforms has great strategic significance in the context of achieving a nuclear triad, especially in the light of the “No First Use” policy of India. The sea-based underwater nuclear capable assets significantly increases the second strike capability, and thus validates the nuclear deterrence. These submarines can not only survive a first strike by the adversary, but can also launch a strike in retaliation, thus achieving ‘Credible Nuclear Deterrence’.
The development of these capabilities is important in the light of India’s relations with China and Pakistan. With China having deployed many of its submarines, including some that are nuclear powered and nuclear capable, India’s capacity building on the nuclear powered submarines and of the nuclear capable missile which can be launched from them, is crucial for nuclear deterrence.
In November 2018, after INS Arihant had become fully operational, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted, “In an era such as this, a credible nuclear deterrence is the need of the hour. The success of INS Arihant gives a fitting response to those who indulge in nuclear blackmail.”
A 2021 US Department of Defence Report on Military and Security Development involving China states, “The PLA Navy currently operates six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), six nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs), and 46 diesel-powered attack submarines (SSs). The PLAN will likely maintain between 65 and 70 submarines through the 2020s, replacing older units with more capable units on a near one-to-one basis.”
Pakistan Navy, on the other hand, operates five diesel-electric submarines and three mini submarines of under 150 tonne displacement.
The Posture
MoD statement after this launch from Arihant stressed on the strategic postures of ‘credible minimum deterrence’ and ‘no first use’ which are pivotal to India’s nuclear doctrine, made public in January 2003, after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had reviewed the progress in operationalizing of India’s nuclear doctrine.
The key points in the doctrine made public at the time were: building and maintaining a credible minimum deterrent; a posture of ‘no first use’ denoting that the nuclear weapons will only be used in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or on Indian forces anywhere; and that nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to “inflict unacceptable damage”.
The doctrine says that the nuclear retaliatory attacks can only be authorised by the civilian political leadership through the Nuclear Command Authority. However at the time, the Cabinet Committee on Security had also reviewed and approved the arrangements for alternate chains of command for retaliatory nuclear strikes in all eventualities.
