India all set to put nuclear-armed submarine into operation

NEW DELHI, February 26: India is close to becoming the world’s sixth country to have its first home-built nuclear submarine, reported Bloomberg.
The country is all set to to put a nuclear-armed submarine into operation, as it detailed billion-dollar projects to arm its navy with warships, aircraft and modern weaponry.
The indigenous 6,000-ton INS Arihant (Destroyer of Enemies) was unveiled in 2009 as part of a project to construct five such vessels which would be armed with nuclear-tipped missiles and torpedoes.
The submarine is currently completing its final trials in the Bay of Bengal
According to defense officials, Arihant is powered by an 85-megawatt nuclear reactor and can reach 44 kilometres an hour (24 knots). It will carry a 95-member crew.
The Indian Navy inducted a Russian-leased nuclear submarine into service in April 2012, joining China, France, the United States, Britain and Russia in the elite club of countries with nuclear-powered vessels.
The deployment would complete India’s nuclear triad, allowing it to deliver atomic weapons from land, sea and air. Only the U.S. and Russia are considered full-fledged nuclear triad powers now, with China and India’s capabilities still largely untested. On November 25, the Arihant reportedly test-fired a training missile, the Indo-Asian News Service reported, citing officials it didn’t identify.
Last year, Pakistan finalized a deal to buy eight Chinese conventional submarines. North Korea also claimed to have tested a submarine-launched missile and said that it had developed technology to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile.
“There will likely be a long phase of initial instability as China and India start deploying nuclear missiles on submarines,” the Lowy report said.
“Chinese and Indian nuclear-armed submarines — along with possible Pakistani and North Korean units — may remain detectable by adversaries, making their activities unpredictable in times of crisis. Moreover, these supposedly stabilizing new forces may worsen wider maritime tensions.-Online