INS Arihant

Until recently only China, France, the United States, Britain and Russia have built and operated nuclear submarines. With the 6,000-ton INS Arihant ready for sea trials, India has joined this elite club.  The submarine will be the first Indian-built nuclear submarine to enter the country’s fleet.   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is quoted, saying that he was “delighted to learn that the nuclear propulsion reactor on board INS Arihant, India’s first indigenous nuclear powered submarine, has now achieved criticality”.   Criticality refers to the point at which a nuclear reaction is self-sustaining. Arihant is powered by an 85-megawatt nuclear reactor and can reach 44 kilometres an hour (24 knots), according to defense officials. It will carry a 95-member crew.

Arihant  is the first of four nuclear submarines built or under construction at Hindustan Shipyard Limited.   In 2011, India took the Nerpa, a Russian nuclear submarine, into its fleet.  The Akula-II class submarine was acquired from Russia under a ten year lease, with an option to buy.  See our previous post, The Strange and Tragic Delivery of the Russian Submarine Nerpa.