INS Arihant; India's First Nuclear Submarine Set for Operations

By siliconindia | Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 09:25 Hrs

Presently, the only nuclear powered platform in service is the INS Chakra, an Akula class SSN on lease from Russia. The Navy officials are working towards developing two more Arihant class submarines at the Ship Building Center (SBC) in Vishakhapatnam, which is expected to build larger and more advanced boat than the first one. Additionally, the navy is also accelerating work on INS Varsha, a new strategic naval base with underground pens on the Eastern Coast near Kakinada, where the nuclear assets would be based.

The Indian Navy works on a goal to build at least six SSNs in India. Therefore, the Navy's Submarine Design Bureau is working on a new class of nuclear powered attack submarines (SSNs) and has a plan to induct them within next 15 years.