India’s first armed nuclear submarine INS Arihant commissioned

TIL Desk/National New Delhi/ The country’s first armed nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, which can deliver atomic weapons from land, sea and air has been commissioned into service after extensive sea-trials.

The 6,000-ton, 110-metre-long INS Arihant (the Sanskrit name meaning ‘Slayer of Enemies’) is powered by a 83 MW pressurised light water nuclear reactor. The vessel was formally commissioned by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba in August.

The vessel has been built under the Advanced Technology Vessel Project at the Ship Building Centre Visakhapatnam. With this induction, India has also completed its nuclear triad, which has a ‘no first-strike’ policy regarding the use of its nuclear weapons. Only five countries in the world — US, UK, France, Russia and China have so far developed nuclear-armed submarines.