2024-09-15 17:26:35
Beijing: India’s second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine INS Arighat has been operational in the Indian Navy since the end of last month. This move by India has increased the country’s nuclear deterrence capability tremendously. Especially, this nuclear submarine will strengthen the Indian Navy amidst China’s growing ambitions. With the help of this nuclear submarine, India can keep an eye on both China and Pakistan simultaneously. However, experts believe that India is still lagging far behind China, as the Chinese Navy is increasing its fleet as well as its ground and air capabilities.
India gets second nuclear submarine
The nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arighat (“destroyer of enemies” in Sanskrit), will “help establish a strategic balance” in the region, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at a commissioning ceremony at the Visakhapatnam naval base, the headquarters of India’s Eastern Naval Command, on the Bay of Bengal coast on August 29. However, that balance is currently tilted in China’s favour. The main reason for this is that China has the world’s largest navy by numbers.
How powerful are Chinese nuclear submarines
China has six operational Jin-class nuclear-powered ballistic submarines, while India has just two, the Arihant and the Arighat. The Jin class submarines are also far superior in range to India’s Arihant class submarines. According to the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, Chinese submarines can carry at least a dozen ballistic missiles with a range of 8,000 kilometers (4,970 miles) and have the capability to carry multiple nuclear weapons.
Know the strength of Indian nuclear submarines
According to an analysis by open-source intelligence agency Jane’s, both India’s Arihant class submarines, INS Arihant and INS Arighat, are 366 feet long with a displacement of 6,000 tonnes. Both these submarines are equipped with K-15 Sagarika ballistic missiles, which can be launched from four vertical launch tubes. However, the range of the nuclear-tipped K-15 is believed to be only around 750 kilometers (466 miles), which limits the targets it can hit from the Indian Ocean.
Indian submarines are less powerful than China
Analyst Carl Schuster, former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, said, “INS Arihant-class submarines can hardly reach Chinese targets from the coastal waters of the North Bay of Bengal. This is because this area is dangerously shallow for a submarine.” India and China have a decades-old border dispute. Since 2020, the armies of both countries have been stationed on both sides of the Line of Actual Control (LAAC). There have been several clashes between the armies of the two countries from time to time.
India is increasing its capacity for retaliation!
India has so far remained mum on the Arihant class submarines. However, it has been reported that the indigenously built INS Arihant and Arighat are being upgraded generation after generation. INS Arihant was commissioned into the Indian Navy eight years ago. India has not even released pictures of Arighat since it was commissioned on August 29. Naval analysts say that India is clearly moving towards developing a nuclear deterrent that will not be as big as China’s nuclear deterrent, but will have enough retaliatory capability to deter Beijing from taking hostile action against it.
India has a keen eye on China
India has new, larger submarines with long-range missiles. Those missiles could have a range of up to 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles), allowing it to strike anywhere in China, according to analysts. “Although India’s sea-based nuclear deterrent capability is still relatively infancy, the country clearly has ambitions to build a sophisticated naval nuclear force, with ballistic missile submarines at its core,” said Matt Korda, associate director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists.