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India fired nuclear sub ballistic missile in landmark test: 10 facts

October 14, 2022
Bharat Times

INS Arihant successfully test-fired ballistic missile today

New Delhi:
India’s nuclear ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant today successfully test-fired a ballistic missile, a major milestone as the first test-firings were carried out from a fixed underwater pontoon; This time the submarine itself launched the missile.

Here’s your 10-point cheatsheet for this big story

  1. The submarine-launched ballistic missile test proves the credibility of India’s naval nuclear deterrent. Indian ballistic missile submarines may now be capable of targeting China and Pakistan from underwater locations when deployed.

  2. The latest submarine-launched ballistic missile test proves that the in-house built INS Arihant class submarines are operational in every way.

  3. “All operational and technical parameters of the weapon system have been validated,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement today after the test-firing.

  4. The Defense Ministry said the submarine-launched ballistic missile or SLBM was tested to a predetermined range and hit the target area in the Bay of Bengal with very high accuracy.

  5. The successful test launch of the SLBM by INS Arihant is crucial to prove the capability of the crew and validate India’s ballistic missile submarine programme, a key element of India’s nuclear deterrence.

  6. “A strong, live and assured response is in line with India’s policy of credible minimum deterrence, underscoring its commitment to ‘no first use’,” the defense ministry said.

  7. India operates three home-made ballistic missile submarines, and has developed two submarine-launched surface-to-surface missiles—K-15 and K-4. The latter has a range of 3,500 km, which acts as a nuclear deterrent against China.

  8. The program to build nuclear-powered submarines and fit them with submarine-launched ballistic missiles is India’s most complex weapons development program to date.

  9. India is the sixth country in the world after the US, Russia, Britain, France and China to have a nuclear-powered submarine equipped with ballistic missiles.

  10. INS Arihant is India’s first indigenously built nuclear submarine. It was launched in July 2009 by Gursharan Kaur, wife of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, on the anniversary of Vijay Diwas (Kargil War Victory Day).