INS Arihant left criopled after accident 10 months ago 

INS Arihant left criopled after accident 10 months ago 

Context

Indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant suffered major damage because of possible human error and has not sailed now for months, according to Navy sources

Arihant is the most important platform within India’s nuclear triad covering land-air-sea modes.

Nuclear submarine was damaged when water entered its propulsion chamber

• Arihant’s propulsion compartment suffered damage after water entered the area more than 10 months ago
• One naval source said water rushed in because a hatch on the rear side was left open by mistake

The accident

The indigenous nuclear submarine, built under the Advanced Technology Vessel project (ATV), suffered damage while it was at harbour. Since the accident, the submarine has been undergoing repairs and clean up, and has not sailed, sources said.

INS Chakra damaged too

• Arihant’s issue has arisen soon after INS Chakra, the nuclear submarine leased from Russia, was reported to have suffered damage to its sonar domes while entering the harbour in Visakhapatnam in early October
• However, INS Chakra’s only a peripheral role in the nuclear triad, for both training and escorting, since it is INS Arihant that would carry nuclear missiles.

Issue came to light during Doklamstandoff

The absence of Arihant from operations came to the political leadership’s attention during the India-China military stand-off at Doklam

Whenever such a stand-off takes place, countries carry out precautionary advance deployment of submarine assets

INS Arihant

• INS Arihant (Code name S2) came into the limelight on July 26, 2009
• After that, the submarine was towed to an enclosed pier for extensive harbour trials from the dry docks at Ship Building Centre, away from public view
• INS Arihant was quietly commissioned into service in August 2016 and its induction is still not officially acknowledged
• It is powered by an 83 MW pressurised light-water reactor with enriched uranium.
• Equipped with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, Arihant is India’s only operational Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN) asset. It can stay undetected deep underwater for long periods, range far and wide, and launch nuclear missiles when required.

Various issues

• Senior naval sources maintain that INS Arihant has not left the harbour for the last ten months or so, and has faced problems from the start
• Initial delays could be just teething trouble, glitches at various stages of getting the reactor to go critical and during harbour trials; major differences between the Russian-supplied design and indigenous fabrication are said to have left many issues unaddressed satisfactorily.

Arihant: top gun for second-strike

• INS Arihant, India’s only operational ship submersible ballistic nuclear (SSBN) asset, is its most dependable platform for a second-strike, given the country “no first use” on nuclear weapons. The other options, land-based and air-launched, are easier to detect.
• The submarine is manned by a staff of 100 with extensive training from the School for Advanced Underwater Warfare in Visakhapatnam and further hands-on training on INS Chakra, a Nerpa-class nuclear ship.
• Arihant has been immobilised even as the second ballistic missile submarine, Arighat, was launched on November 19 for sea trials. The launch was kept a low-profile event attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior Navy officers.
• A high-profile launch, to be attended by the Prime Minister, was put off

Key to nuclear triad

• INS Arihant and other nuclear launch platforms — land-based missiles and designated aircraft — are operationally handled by the Strategic Forces Command, and report to the Nuclear Command Authority chaired by the Prime Minister.
• However, the over 100 nuclear warheads are not mated with missiles or bombs and remain in civilian custody of the Atomic Energy Department and the Defence Research and Development Organisation

Ambitious plan

• India has an ambitious plan to build a SSBN fleet, comprising five Arihant-class vessels.
• Naval sources say the plan hinges on Arihant’s success
• It has taken 30 years to build it, at a high cost. “It was initially estimated to cost about ₹3000 crore for three boats — now the cost of Arihant itself seems to have gone over ₹14,000 crore,” a former high-ranking naval officer said.

The Eastern Naval Command plans to operate its nuclear sub fleet from an independent Naval Operational Alternative Base (NOAB) being constructed on 5,000 acres of land at Rambilli, for direct access to the sea. The base is located about 50 km from Visakhapatnam, and jetties are under construction