India has recently acknowledged some significant successes in the secretive Sagarika project to develop an indigenous submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capability. This is a major techno-military milestone. The Ministry of Defence has highlighted that several elements of the project have been tested but the actual test firing has yet to take place. Significantly, the operationalisation of India’s SLBM capability is a step closer to the much needed nuclear triad to launch nuclear strikes not only from land and air-based missiles but also from the sea. This is specially challenging in nature.

In a sense the achievement may be considered superior even to that of the Agni-3 missile tests in terms of technological complexity. An SLBM is a guided missile fired from a submarine through its torpedo tubes.

Submarine launched missiles assume strategic significance owing to their stealth aspect and their ability to remain hidden from reconnaissance satellites and make a surprise strike against an enemy target. This capability enables a country to make a second or retaliatory nuclear strike against an enemy even after absorption of a first strike against land based nuclear forces. During the Cold War era, the US and Soviet nuclear armed and powered submarines played cat and mouse with each other in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. For instance, an Indian nuclear armed submarine can even threaten the mighty American Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.

 Considering only four other countries namely Russia, US, France and UK have this capability, India has proved its competence to cope with such a complex technology. While China and Israel have made some headway in SLBM technology their capabilities are semi-operational and yet to reach fruition. The Defence Research and Development Organisation along with the Indian Navy jointly undertook the Sagarika project in the early 1990s. However, the Ministry of Defence had all along denied the project’s existence. It is only now that it has revealed relevant details of the project. The Indian SLBM is reported to be a Prithvi missile with a 1,500 kms range. 
Logically, the next step would be to undertake a test firing of the SLBM to actually validate the various elements of the project that would have to function as an integrated system.