Following the news that India has commissioned its second nuclear ballistic missile submarine, INS Arighat Kandlikar Venkatesh, Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a data and analytics company, offers his view:
“The commissioning of INS Arighat marks a significant advancement in India’s strategic submarine manufacturing capabilities, emphasising the country’s commitment to further strengthen its strategic nuclear triad. Armed with twelve K-15 Sagarika or four K-4 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, INS Arighat substantially enhances India’s second-strike capability while providing a robust deterrence against its nuclear armed neighbors Pakistan and China. By advancing the development of these indigenous platforms, India is also bolstering its strategic autonomy in producing critical defence technologies.
“The growing maritime presence of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) highlights the urgent need for India and its partners to reinforce their naval capabilities. China’s tense relations with its neighbors, driven by its economic interests and geopolitical ambitions, have led the PLA Navy to rapidly modernise its naval fleet, with notable deployment of Type 094 nuclear submarines and the anticipated introduction of the more advanced Type 096 (Tang-class) submarines by 2030.
“China’s extensive naval buildup and the regular deployment of fully armed nuclear deterrence patrols by Type 094 submarines are perceived as a threat by other countries in the region, including India. In response, the deployment of Arihant-class submarines will provide India some degree of parity with its Chinese counterparts.
“According to GlobalData, India is projected to spend approximately $31.6 billion on procuring various types of submarines over the next ten years, indicating the country’s dedication in enhancing its undersea capabilities. The Indian Navy plans to commission two additional Arihant-class submarines over the next decade, each featuring a larger missile-carrying capacity to further strengthen India’s sea-based nuclear deterrence. Furthermore, the development of the larger S5-class ballistic missile submarines, equipped with cutting-edge stealth technologies and long-range SLBMs such as the K-5 (6,000 km range) and K-6 (with a range exceeding 12,000 km), will elevate India’s SSBN fleet as a credible tool for nuclear deterrence.”
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So INS Arighat is India’s second Arihant-class small SSBN [1] known in the trade as a “Baby Boomer”. The 1st and 2nd Arihants and even the 3rd and 4th ones will be smaller and cheaper than Australia’s Virginia SSNs and SSN-AUKUSs.
The Arihants’ main opponents will be Pakistan and China.
If Australia can organise 6 SSNs by the 2040s we would would do well to complete our nuclear submarine fleet with 4 nuclear armed Baby Boomers as the best deterrents against China..
Even the US’s first SSBN class were Baby Boomers, called the George Washington-class. [2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arihant-class_submarine#Ships_in_class
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington-class_submarine