INS Arihant to give India nuke power at sea

The indigenous K-15 SLBM or Sagarika can strike a target at a distance of 700 km, carrying a warhead upto 500 kg. The military establishment had kept Sagarika under wraps. But the Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma on Thursday said the SLBM, test fired in 2008, would be mounted on the Arihant when it would be commissioned sometime between 2011 and 2012.

With the induction of the SLBM, India will acquire the capability to strike from the sea as well, completing the nuke triad with its existing capability to strike from land and air. The triad was being put in place since the Kargil conflict.

The Navy would also induct by 2014, the indigenous aircraft carrier being constructed at Cochin Shipyard. Also, all six Scorpene submarines will be inducted between 2015 and 2018, giving a boost to the Navy’s fledgling submarine strength.

A second line to manufacture six more submarines has also been approved, which along with the new destroyers, frigates and 12 P8-I long range maritime surveillance aircraft will augment the Navy’s blue water capabilities.

India’s decision to induct Sagarika by 2012 gains significance in the wake of Wikileaks that showed the US and the UK authorities worrying over the safety and security of Pakistan’s nuclear establishment. Their concern was an indirect admission of a nuclear arsenal across the border.

The Navy chief refused to comment on the strategic implications of information coming out through Wikileak cable. He also did not elaborate on the Navy’s counter-plan to tackle China’s anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that is believed to be at an advanced stage of development.

“If ASBM is operationally fielded, it is a matter of concern. But I cannot give you any specifics on the ASBM and its functional reality,” Verma said, when repeatedly asked about it.

China is the world’s only country to have developed a 3000-km range ASBM, which is a quasi-ballistic missile with a terminal guidance system. If operational, it can shatter ships including aircraft carriers, as no ship has the mechanism to counter it.