Monday, August 03, 2009

Indian SSBN Arihant Launched

India has launched its first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant:



The sub isn't yet fully equipped, but will be undergoing harbour trials. It's intended to be the first of 10 subs that will form part of the undersea component of India's nuclear triad. Attack submarines will also be built, to expand India's maritime security and counter China's entry into the Indian Ocean with its Han- and Jin-class submarines.

8 comments:

Sujeev said...

Ain't nothing to crow about! What's the point in trumpeting decades old technology? I bet the Arihant's sonar signature has already been captured and upoaded into the computers of naval ships of the world's major powers. It can be tracked from the time it leaves port to the time it gets back in. Why can't Indian scientists conceptualise and develop weapon systems that will truly send shivers down the spine of india's competitors on the world stage by altering the balance of military power drastically in India's favour?

san said...

But conceptualize and develop what?

Nobody can capture Arihant's signature until it's in the water, and it's only just now been launched.

China can't threaten to launch a war against us on a whim now, since they have more to lose than we do.

With India having such a large coastline, it's only appropriate that we have a commensurate force projection capability.

Sujeev said...

I dunno, but considering there are lots of desis working in defence labs, and defence industries overseas, helping develop state of the art weapon systems, why can't it be done in India, using the money being spent on weapons systems that are obsolete by the time they are inducted into India's armed forces. Consider the much touted Brahmos. The technology to neutralise it (the MK 15 phalanx CIWS) has been around for so long, it hardly raised an eyebrow in the defence circles of India's competitors. Same story with Arihant. Good for show. Useless in combat. Better to develop a technology that pinpoints the location, and provides real time tracking, of the subs of India's competitors..... maybe wishful thinking on my part, but considering all the different kinds of weapons mentioned in the Mahabharata & the Ramayana, there must be some capability somewhere in India to do something other than just copy stuff that has been done somewhere else in the world a while ago.

Deva said...

IMO, it's just a distraction for the Sharm-el-sheikh fiasco. Without nuclear capability, it might as well be an empty shell. When the Nuke Deal was being shoved down people's throats, UPA launched a missile test as a similar distraction. People forget that weapons capability is what really matters and not just the delivery system.

I'm sorry to say that India has been castrated by this joker MMS to conform to his own napunksata.

As others have remarked, ICBM is not even being contemplated.

san said...

Well, we don't really need ICBM, because if you start pointing things at anyone willy-nilly, then you'll find them pointing things back at you.

We need nuclear deterrence against China and Pak, and that requires IRBMs at most. If we can have subs that launch missiles with a range of 5000km, we'll be fine.

In the meantime, we'll also need hunter-killer attack subs that can deal with the increasing number of Chinese boomers of Jin and Han class entering into the Indian Ocean. The Chinese intend to build their sub fleet larger than the Americans, to dominate their side of the Pacific at least.

Deva said...

san,

How is China's strategic calculus so different from India that they must have ICBMs but we cannot even dream of such? In fact, if Pakistan is considered as a proxy state of the Americans (given ample US funding of Pakis), then ICBM is required leverage for Indians. Americans also fund Baptist secessionists in the NE, among internal nuisances like missionaries and marxists. Can Americans make things any worse for India at this point. It seems as if all stops are being pulled out for 2025 breakup of India.

Of course, it is useless to put the cart before the horse because India has imposed a voluntary moratorium on testing itself under UPA.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Arvind said...

Agree with Sujeev. It is decades old technology and even that has been built with Russian help. The weapons are useless if you don't have the courage to go out and wage a war even when attacked.

Unknown said...

this is useless criticism.U better compare India's techno knowhow with China rather than the US or Russia.Nuck sub is the hallmark of a great power and we better start building them now than never.