Arihant to sail on deterrent patrol after commissioning

India's first ballistic missile submarine the INS Arihant will go on "deterrent patrol" or sail with a full complement of nuclear-tipped missiles when she is commissioned in 2012. "The nuclear triad will be there when it is commissioned," navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said at a press conference in New Delhi.

This is the first time a service chief has commented on the deployment of a nuclear weapon platform. Launched last year, the Arihant is the first of a series of five indigenously constructed ballistic missile submarines (SSBN). The Indian SSBN is meant to form the third and most survivable leg of a troika of land, air and sea-based platforms enunciated by the Indian nuclear doctrine. The submarines are being constructed at the high security Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam. "We expect to have it going in two years, end 2011 or 2012," Admiral Verma said. "We are going with the float as far as things go," he said in an attempt to answer speculation that technical glitches with the submarine would delay its commissioning.

Deterrent patrol means a long and lonely vigil where the submarine sails submerged and undetectable for weeks on end with its load of nuclear weapons. It is meant to 'deter' an adversary from launching a first strike on the nation. Only four nations-the US, Russia, France and UK have SSBNs sailing on deterrent patrols. China has two SSBNs and is building three more but its submarines have never sailed on deterrent patrols.

Admiral Verma's predecessor was the first to confirm the existence of the highly classified Advanced Technology vessel (ATV) project two years back. Security analysts however believe that the navy chief's estimates of induction could be optimistic. The Arihant is yet to begin her sea trials or even fire up her nuclear reactor. Missile tests will follow after the submarine completes her sea trials which could take up to a year. Two nuclear-tipped missiles are being developed for the Arihant class. A 700-km submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) called the K-15 or the B-05 has been tested eight times and is in serial production. A 3500 km SLBM, the K-4 has been tested once and will be fielded by around 2017. A second test of the K-4 is expected in the next two months.