Advanced Technology Vessel
Encyclopedia
The Arihant class submarine
s are nuclear-powered
ballistic missile submarine
s being developed for the Indian Navy
. The was introduced to the public on July 26, 2009 at a symbolic launch ceremony, which consisted of floating it by flooding the dry dock. The Arihant class is India's first indigenously designed and built nuclear submarine. The class is expected to consist of four vessels to be in commission with the Indian Navy
by 2015, with a further four vessels planned to follow on. The Arihant class vessels were designed as a part of India's US$2.9 billion project to design and build nuclear-powered submarines.
's Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) Project. The first confirmation on the project came in 1998 from then defense minister of India, George Fernandes. The ATV project started with the intent to design nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, though over time the project was re-aligned towards the design of a ballistic missile submarine in order to complete India's nuclear triad
. The project faced many challenges including design and miniaturization of the nuclear reactor.
(PWR) with enriched uranium
fuel. The initial design of the miniaturized naval-version of the reactor developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
(BARC) had technical challenges, after which Russia
n help was sought to resolve the design glitches. The final production version of the reactor was built by the BARC at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam
. A land-based prototype of the marine PWR was first built at Kalpakkam and made operational in September 2006. The prototype included a 42-meter section of the submarine's pressure hull containing the shielding tank with water and the reactor, a control room, as well as an auxiliary control room for monitoring safety parameters. Successful operation of the prototype for three years yielded the data that enabled the production version for Arihant. The reactors are fueled by high fissile fuel requiring lesser refuels for the submarine.
The hulls for this class are built by L&T's Hazira shipbuilding facility. Tata Power SED
built the control systems for the submarine. The systems for the steam turbine integrated with the PWR are supplied by Walchandnagar Industries
.
The program has been shrouded in mystery and reports on the current status of the vessel have differed. It was reported in 2009 by Defro.com that the nuclear reactor and other key systems including its surveillance equipment and ordnance were still in the process of being installed. Other reports have stated that the reactor is on board the submarine. India Today provided details of the nuclear reactor on-board. After the initial harbour trials are over, the steam turbines will be tested using a secondary power option. After successfully completing the turbine test, the nuclear reactor on-board the submarine will be activated. This is done by slowly raising the zirconium
rods which will make the nuclear reactor critical. Once the reactor is critical, the sea trial of the submarine is carried out. In 2010, the lead vessel of the class, INS Arihant
was reported to have begun sea trials and the submarine is expected to formally join the Indian Navy
by 2011. systems were not included in the submarine's launch and that it was only a ceremonious float-out
. Although it has been reported that the new submarine already conducting sea trials, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said in December 2009, "Work is in progress to make INS Arihant operational for sea-trials...it should be inducted in two years or so."
In these two years the submarine will undergo harbour acceptance trials(HATs) where the submarine's nuclear reactor will be 'fired' and all the on board systems will be tested on the power generated by the submarine, which will be followed by sea acceptance trials (SATs) where the submarine will be operated at different speeds and different depths, the final phase will be the weapon trials where the submarine will fire its SLBMs (Submarine launched ballistic missiles) and torpedoes. Before working together all the systems installed in the submarine have to be tested one after the another (this process is called setting-to-work), the HATs and SATs are reported to last for one and a half year.
Full integration of key systems and Sea trials are expected to be extensive. The submarine is not expected to formally join the Indian Navy
earlier than 2011. Admiral Verma stated in 2009 that The INS Arihant will be more of "a technology demonstrator", rather than a fully operational SSBN however in 2011 he revealed that Arihant will undertake "deterrent patrols" in 2012 completing India's nuclear triad
. Two more submarines in the class are under construction and the hull sections of these has been completed at L&T facility in Hazira and is expected to be transported to Vishakapatanam for assembling. INS Arihant is undergoing extensive sea trials before it's induction into service, and is said to be inducted prior to the induction of Akula class submarine.
nuclear attack submarine it will lease from Russia sometime in the second quarter of 2010. It is conjectured that India may have struck deal for the supply of two of these submarines with an option
to purchase them in the future.
The Arihant class may possibly be armed with the existing 750 km K-15 Sagarika SLBM or the under-development 3500 km range K-4, an SLBM version of Agni-III.
The Arihant class hull features twin flank-array sonars and Rafael broadband expendable anti-torpedo countermeasures. The UPA government's report card carried an image of , which provided the first glimpse of the complete sub.
. Previous news reports suggested that Gangavaram
had been the initial site for the new base. The new base is designed to support all 8-12 Arihant -class submarines to be built for the Indian Navy, and it will include state-of-the-art nuclear engineering support facilities and extensive crew accommodations. The Indian Navy is seeking foreign technical assistance pertaining to nuclear safety features for the base. While designed principally as a nuclear submarine support facility, the new base can accommodate other naval vessels because of the Indian Navy's expansion. This facility has been compared to the top-secret Hainan
nuclear submarine base for the Chinese PLA Navy
. This east coast base expansion program by the Indian Navy is in direct response to Chinese naval expansion into the region.
In addition to Project Varsha, in late 2009, the Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), located at Visakhapatnam, was transferred from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence in order to support the Arihant -class nuclear submarine construction program.
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s are nuclear-powered
Nuclear marine propulsion
Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...
ballistic missile submarine
Ballistic missile submarine
A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine equipped to launch ballistic missiles .-Description:Ballistic missile submarines are larger than any other type of submarine, in order to accommodate SLBMs such as the Russian R-29 or the American Trident...
s being developed for the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
. The was introduced to the public on July 26, 2009 at a symbolic launch ceremony, which consisted of floating it by flooding the dry dock. The Arihant class is India's first indigenously designed and built nuclear submarine. The class is expected to consist of four vessels to be in commission with the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
by 2015, with a further four vessels planned to follow on. The Arihant class vessels were designed as a part of India's US$2.9 billion project to design and build nuclear-powered submarines.
History
The Arihant class submarines were designed and constructed as a part of the Indian NavyIndian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
's Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) Project. The first confirmation on the project came in 1998 from then defense minister of India, George Fernandes. The ATV project started with the intent to design nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, though over time the project was re-aligned towards the design of a ballistic missile submarine in order to complete India's nuclear triad
Nuclear triad
A nuclear triad refers to a nuclear arsenal which consists of three components, traditionally strategic bombers, ICBMs and SLBMs. The purpose of having a three-branched nuclear capability is to significantly reduce the possibility that an enemy could destroy all of a nation's nuclear forces in a...
. The project faced many challenges including design and miniaturization of the nuclear reactor.
Development
The vessels are to be powered by an 80 MW pressurized water reactorPressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
(PWR) with enriched uranium
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
fuel. The initial design of the miniaturized naval-version of the reactor developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is India's primary nuclear research facility based in Mumbai. It has a number of nuclear reactors, all of which are used for India's nuclear power and research programme.- History :...
(BARC) had technical challenges, after which Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n help was sought to resolve the design glitches. The final production version of the reactor was built by the BARC at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam
Kalpakkam
Kalpakkam is a small town in Tamil Nadu, India, situated on the Coromandel Coast 70 kilometres south of Chennai. A conglomerate of two villages and a DAE township, it is about 55 km from Thiruvanmiyur....
. A land-based prototype of the marine PWR was first built at Kalpakkam and made operational in September 2006. The prototype included a 42-meter section of the submarine's pressure hull containing the shielding tank with water and the reactor, a control room, as well as an auxiliary control room for monitoring safety parameters. Successful operation of the prototype for three years yielded the data that enabled the production version for Arihant. The reactors are fueled by high fissile fuel requiring lesser refuels for the submarine.
The hulls for this class are built by L&T's Hazira shipbuilding facility. Tata Power SED
Tata Power SED
Tata Power Strategic Electronics Division is a unit of Tata Power, a diversified company of the Tata Group.-Pinaka MBRL:Tata Power SED is the lead contractor along with Larsen & Toubro Limited for the Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher system...
built the control systems for the submarine. The systems for the steam turbine integrated with the PWR are supplied by Walchandnagar Industries
Walchandnagar Industries
Walchandnagar Industries Limited is a heavy engineering products and EP&C services company, based in Mumbai, India.-Products and services:...
.
The program has been shrouded in mystery and reports on the current status of the vessel have differed. It was reported in 2009 by Defro.com that the nuclear reactor and other key systems including its surveillance equipment and ordnance were still in the process of being installed. Other reports have stated that the reactor is on board the submarine. India Today provided details of the nuclear reactor on-board. After the initial harbour trials are over, the steam turbines will be tested using a secondary power option. After successfully completing the turbine test, the nuclear reactor on-board the submarine will be activated. This is done by slowly raising the zirconium
Zirconium
Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name of zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon. Its atomic mass is 91.224. It is a lustrous, grey-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium...
rods which will make the nuclear reactor critical. Once the reactor is critical, the sea trial of the submarine is carried out. In 2010, the lead vessel of the class, INS Arihant
INS Arihant
INS Arihant is the lead ship of India's Arihant class of nuclear-powered submarines. The 5,000–6,000 tonne vessel was built under the Advanced Technology Vessel project at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam....
was reported to have begun sea trials and the submarine is expected to formally join the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
by 2011. systems were not included in the submarine's launch and that it was only a ceremonious float-out
Float-out
Float-out is the process in modern shipbuilding that follows the keel laying and precedes the fitting-out process. It is analogous to launching a ship, a specific process that has largely been discontinued in modern shipbuilding...
. Although it has been reported that the new submarine already conducting sea trials, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said in December 2009, "Work is in progress to make INS Arihant operational for sea-trials...it should be inducted in two years or so."
In these two years the submarine will undergo harbour acceptance trials(HATs) where the submarine's nuclear reactor will be 'fired' and all the on board systems will be tested on the power generated by the submarine, which will be followed by sea acceptance trials (SATs) where the submarine will be operated at different speeds and different depths, the final phase will be the weapon trials where the submarine will fire its SLBMs (Submarine launched ballistic missiles) and torpedoes. Before working together all the systems installed in the submarine have to be tested one after the another (this process is called setting-to-work), the HATs and SATs are reported to last for one and a half year.
Full integration of key systems and Sea trials are expected to be extensive. The submarine is not expected to formally join the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
earlier than 2011. Admiral Verma stated in 2009 that The INS Arihant will be more of "a technology demonstrator", rather than a fully operational SSBN however in 2011 he revealed that Arihant will undertake "deterrent patrols" in 2012 completing India's nuclear triad
Nuclear triad
A nuclear triad refers to a nuclear arsenal which consists of three components, traditionally strategic bombers, ICBMs and SLBMs. The purpose of having a three-branched nuclear capability is to significantly reduce the possibility that an enemy could destroy all of a nation's nuclear forces in a...
. Two more submarines in the class are under construction and the hull sections of these has been completed at L&T facility in Hazira and is expected to be transported to Vishakapatanam for assembling. INS Arihant is undergoing extensive sea trials before it's induction into service, and is said to be inducted prior to the induction of Akula class submarine.
Details
The submarine is reported to be similar to the Russian Charlie II class submarine, which India leased from the Soviet Union between 1988 and 1991. Personnel will have the opportunity to train on an Akula-II classAkula class submarine
Project 971 Щука-Б , is a nuclear-powered attack submarine first deployed by the Soviet Navy in 1986...
nuclear attack submarine it will lease from Russia sometime in the second quarter of 2010. It is conjectured that India may have struck deal for the supply of two of these submarines with an option
Option (finance)
In finance, an option is a derivative financial instrument that specifies a contract between two parties for a future transaction on an asset at a reference price. The buyer of the option gains the right, but not the obligation, to engage in that transaction, while the seller incurs the...
to purchase them in the future.
The Arihant class may possibly be armed with the existing 750 km K-15 Sagarika SLBM or the under-development 3500 km range K-4, an SLBM version of Agni-III.
The Arihant class hull features twin flank-array sonars and Rafael broadband expendable anti-torpedo countermeasures. The UPA government's report card carried an image of , which provided the first glimpse of the complete sub.
Project Varsha
The Indian Navy is developing a new top-secret naval base for its nuclear submarines, code-named Project Varsha, located within a radius of approximately 200 kilometers (124.27 statute miles) from VisakhapatnamVisakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam is a major sea port on the south east coast of India. With a population of approximately 1.7 million, it is the second largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the third largest city on the east coast of India after Kolkata and Chennai. According to the history, the city was...
. Previous news reports suggested that Gangavaram
Gangavaram
Ganaga-varam is a village and mandal located in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India.Gangavaram railway station is on Kakinada-Kotipalli railway line.-Panchayats:There are 17 panchayats in Gangavaram mandal....
had been the initial site for the new base. The new base is designed to support all 8-12 Arihant -class submarines to be built for the Indian Navy, and it will include state-of-the-art nuclear engineering support facilities and extensive crew accommodations. The Indian Navy is seeking foreign technical assistance pertaining to nuclear safety features for the base. While designed principally as a nuclear submarine support facility, the new base can accommodate other naval vessels because of the Indian Navy's expansion. This facility has been compared to the top-secret Hainan
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
nuclear submarine base for the Chinese PLA Navy
People's Liberation Army Navy
The People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...
. This east coast base expansion program by the Indian Navy is in direct response to Chinese naval expansion into the region.
In addition to Project Varsha, in late 2009, the Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), located at Visakhapatnam, was transferred from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence in order to support the Arihant -class nuclear submarine construction program.
Ships in class
| Name | Pennant | Builder | Launch | Commissioning | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S73 | Shipbuilding Centre Vishakapatnam | 26 July 2009 | 2012 | Sea trial | |
| Shipbuilding Centre Vishakapatnam | Under construction | ||||
| Unknown | Shipbuilding Centre Vishakapatnam | Under construction | |||
| Unknown | Shipbuilding Centre Vishakapatnam |
External links
- INS Arihant - Bharat Rakshak
- GlobalSecurity.org on the Advanced Technology Vessel
- The Indian SSN Project: An Open Literature Analysis
- The Indian Strategic Nuclear Submarine Project by Mark Gorwitz
- India Joining Another Club
- INS Arihant is an Indian design: Anil Kakodkar
- Arihant the annihilator: Rear Adm AP Revi
Video
- http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1138779
- http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_magazine&opt=section§ionid=86&secid=0&videoid=53438&ptype=video