India Navy Indian Nuclear Submarine Programs (SSBN & SSN)

Nilgiri

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Use this thread to post all news, updates & discussions regarding the various nuclear submarine programs of the Indian Navy, including:

Arihant-class SSBN
S-4* SSBN
S5-class SSBN
Project-75A/Project-76 SSN
Past & future leased Russian SSNs

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Well, its about time I feel to start a thread for SSBN (Arihant class) program of Indian Navy.

I have put this thread in strategic forces for now given the overall higher relevance to that paradigm.

To start, here is brief and interesting introduction+context+analysis on it given by a retd. USN Captain:


Kudos to @Ecderha for bringing this channel to my attention.

@ANMDT @Joe Shearer @#comcom @T-123456 @Cabatli_53 @Gautam @Paro @Vergennes @Dante80 et al.
 
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Gary

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The last 2 boats will be a full 1000tons heavier than the previous two. What additional equipment could it be?
 

Nilgiri

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The last 2 boats will be a full 1000tons heavier than the previous two. What additional equipment could it be?

They will have double the launch tubes for SLBMs....i.e increase from 4 tubes to 8.

The reactor will also likely be uprated from current design and be heavier. Other than those, we have to see.

Thing with Arihant class was it started out as SSN concept and it was decided later to make it SSBN on that SSN sized reactor, hull etc. A "baby" boomer.

The next class of SSBN (S5 class) will be a proper more conventional SSBN size and capability.
 

Nilgiri

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Gary

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Nilgiri

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Any idea about the Electronics, Periscope, CMS etc , is it indigenous or imports?

Most of the Electronics, Sensors (incl sonar, antenna etc), CMS etc are done by BEL, the local DPSU that undertakes this stuff generally. Either indigenized from single source, multi source and/or reverse engineered/developed into a new product. One of my uncles made his lifelong career at this company actually.

CMS for example, I believe its a BEL system using RTI "Connext" DDS standard at its core (you will hear talk of this at expos dating about 10 years back) but proprietary architecture developed above it....but it may have Russian modules integrated (say for specific weaponry). I am unsure because the project (given what SSBN is etc) is extremely close-guarded stuff.

Periscope, optronic masts and items like that also I am unsure. I know India overall has heritage connections here to Germany given the HDW 209 acquisition...and it is much preferred over equivalents on the Kilo-class. So companies like Hensoldt and Kollmorgen could have played some role in what the arihant class has here.

I could be wrong on some of this of course (and Indian members more in the know on it can correct it)....this is just my best educated guess.

@ANMDT
 

Gautam

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The last 2 boats will be a full 1000tons heavier than the previous two. What additional equipment could it be?
More powerful engine & a new propulsion set. Apparently we are going for pump jets in the future.


The engine will be a ~200MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor(PHWR) powered by Highly Enriched Uranium(HEU). The current one on the INS Arihant is a 83.5MW PHWR unit. There is currently a land based prototype at BARC, Mumbai facility. The Navy is also involved in running their assessments on the new reactor. Some tenders & publications from BARC suggests that the development of the reactor is nearing completion.

Periscope, optronic masts and items like that also I am unsure. I know India overall has heritage connections here to Germany given the HDW 209 acquisition...and it is much preferred over equivalents on the Kilo-class. So companies like Hensoldt and Kollmorgen could have played some role in what the arihant class has here.
The current Periscope is a combination of domestic & foreign components. The French are involved in some key design/fabrication work. Not the Germans.

There is ongoing work on a new photonic mast for future subs. Not sure about its progress. Some reports suggests all subs of the Arihant class barring the first one will have the new mast. Some others say the indigenous SSNs will get that mast first.
 

Rajendra Chola

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Most of the Electronics, Sensors (incl sonar, antenna etc), CMS etc are done by BEL, the local DPSU that undertakes this stuff generally. Either indigenized from single source, multi source and/or reverse engineered/developed into a new product. One of my uncles made his lifelong career at this company actually.

CMS for example, I believe its a BEL system using RTI "Connext" DDS standard at its core (you will hear talk of this at expos dating about 10 years back) but proprietary architecture developed above it....but it may have Russian modules integrated (say for specific weaponry). I am unsure because the project (given what SSBN is etc) is extremely close-guarded stuff.

Periscope, optronic masts and items like that also I am unsure. I know India overall has heritage connections here to Germany given the HDW 209 acquisition...and it is much preferred over equivalents on the Kilo-class. So companies like Hensoldt and Kollmorgen could have played some role in what the arihant class has here.

I could be wrong on some of this of course (and Indian members more in the know on it can correct it)....this is just my best educated guess.

@ANMDT

Do we need to many any disclosure or permission to buy equipments for our Nuclear Sub programme? Especially from western sources. Cos till 2009 this project was a damn secret. So if we were purchasing around for stuffs commonly used in submarines, many would have known. I suspect it's where Russia would have chipped in too or we made it ourselves.
 

Nilgiri

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The current Periscope is a combination of domestic & foreign components. The French are involved in some key design/fabrication work. Not the Germans.

This makes more sense.

Do we need to many any disclosure or permission to buy equipments for our Nuclear Sub programme? Especially from western sources. Cos till 2009 this project was a damn secret. So if we were purchasing around for stuffs commonly used in submarines, many would have known. I suspect it's where Russia would have chipped in too or we made it ourselves.

It will be our stuff most definitely when it comes to final unit... I am just talking design heritage, it wouldn't be direct complete acquisition.... though maybe some components were acquired in larger amounts for overhaul spares for earlier subs.

Russia played largest role in overall consultancy, there were lot of Russian officials (And ppl involved with project) at Arihant launch for example.
 

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Ballistic missile submarine Arighat in final stages of trials, to be commissioned early 2021​

Once Arighat is commissioned, India will have two operational SSBNs that are equipped with the 750-KM range K-15 missile, designed for retaliatory nuclear strikes.
SNEHESH ALEX PHILIP16 December, 2020
Representational image | India’s kilo class submarine INS Sindhuraj during the Malabar 2020 exercise in the Bay of Bengal | Photo by special arrangement
Representational image | India’s kilo class submarine INS Sindhuraj during the Malabar 2020 exercise in the Bay of Bengal | Photo by special arrangement




New Delhi: Arighat, the second of the indigenous Arihant class nuclear-powered ballistic missile carrying submarine (SSBN), is in the final stages of sea trials and will be commissioned early next year, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in the defence and security establishment said the submarine has performed well during the sea trials so far, and added that the commissioning of the vessel was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It should be done (commissioned) early next year,” a source said.
The Arighat was quietly launched in November 2017 by the then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
With Arighat in, India will be operating two SSBNs that are equipped with the 750 KM range K-15 submarine-launched ballistic missile, meant for punitive retaliatory strikes in case of a nuclear attack.

Both INS Arihant, which is on operational deployment, and the Arighat have the capacity to carry four missiles each.

India’s submarine plan

While the original plan was to have four Arihant class submarines, it was changed by the UPA government, sources in the know said.


Now, the two Arihant class submarines will have a displacement of 6,000 tonnes while two other SSBNs will be of a larger size (7,000 tonnes displacement).

A key differentiating factor will be that the two larger vessels under construction — S4 and S4* at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam — will have eight missile tubes instead of four.


India currently also operates a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) INS Chakra II, which is under lease from Russia.

It was in March last year that India and Russia signed a US$3 billion deal for the lease of a third SSN — Chakra III — that is likely to be in Indian waters by 2025 at the earliest.


Russian submarines are being leased to train crews for India’s own fleet of SSBNs.

In 2015, the Narendra Modi government gave the green light to build six indigenous SSNs. About two years later, in 2017, then Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba had confirmed that work on the SSNs had started.


India’s nuclear triad

It was in November 2018 that India completed its nuclear triad when PM Modi announced to the world the completion of the first deterrence patrol by Arihant.

With that, India joined an elite group of countries that have the capability to launch a nuclear weapon from land, air and underwater. The only other countries capable of this are the US, Russia, China and France.

INS Arihant was commissioned in 2016 by then defence minister Manohar Parrikar, but a formal announcement came only two years later
 

Nilgiri

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The larger, improved and better-armed Arighat is within the last phases of sea trials and is more likely to be commissioned into service early subsequent yr. After teething troubles, India’s nuclear submarine programme — the nation’s costliest defence venture, monitored immediately by Nationwide Safety Adviser Ajit Doval — has made massive strides lately.

Indian Navy To Get 2nd Nuclear SSBN Arighat

In October 2018, the veil of secrecy across the programme was lifted for the primary time when India acknowledged that INS Arihant, its first SSBN — a nuclear-powered submarine geared up with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles — had accomplished its first deterrence patrol. Now, Arighat is within the last phases of sea trials and is more likely to be commissioned into service early subsequent yr.

“It ought to be executed (commissioned) early subsequent yr,” a supply mentioned. The submarine has carried out nicely throughout sea trials and its commissioning has been delayed by the outbreak of Covid-19.

With the Arihant-class venture now working at “assembly-line tempo”, the programme has additionally acquired a brand new vertical — SSNs or nuclear-powered submarines which, in contrast to the SSBNs, are armed with missiles with standard warheads. In 2019, the federal government granted Rs 100 crore for the preliminary section of growth of those submarines. With success within the preliminary design section, the programme has obtained clearance from the federal government for the detailed design section. Which means that the federal government will now deploy extra sources for this venture.

India Plans To Construct 6 SSNs With A Displacement Capability
Approvals for this venture got in 2015, a yr after the Nationwide Democratic Alliance (NDA) got here to energy. The preliminary design work had begun on the Gurgaon-based Submarine Design Centre someday round 2017 and appreciable progress has been made since.

The Hyderabad-based, state-owned Mishra Dhatu Nigam, has been requested to develop an indigenous particular alloy for the hull of the submarine to permit it to dive a lot deeper than the Arihant-class boats. The nuclear reactor being developed for the SSNs can even be extra highly effective than the one on the Arihant-class submarines.

Like SSBNs, SSNs are powered by a nuclear reactor and may stay underwater for lengthy intervals of time, for much longer than diesel-electric submarines or SSKs, which should floor at common intervals to cost their batteries which energy them underwater. On the similar time, working SSNs just isn’t as complicated as SSBNs as these boats are usually not armed with nuclear-tipped missiles.

Though the trouble behind the tasks is indigenous with 60 per cent of the elements for the Arihant-class being sourced from native producers, the Indian Navy has benefited from shut design-and-technical cooperation with Russia.

The subsequent two SSBNs after INS Arihant and Arighat, recognized as S4 and S4* for now, are below building on the Ship Constructing Centre in Visakhapatnam and are more likely to enter service with the Indian Navy someday round 2024. These two boats will displace at the very least 1,000 tons greater than the 6,000 tonne INS Arihant. The boats shall be able to carrying eight 3,500 km vary K-4 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) whereas INS Arihant can carry solely 4 of those. The primary Arihant-class is at the moment geared up with a dozen 750 km vary K-15 Sagarika SLBMs. Whereas the K-15 has entered service, K-4 continues to be being examined.
 

KKF 2.0

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I know that Pakistanis feel like that India's naval programs are targeting them but I assume that China is the actual benchmark for the Indian Navy. Besides, it's true that the Indian Ocean is becoming more crowded every year.
 

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I know that Pakistanis feel like that India's naval programs are targeting them but I assume that China is the actual benchmark for the Indian Navy. Besides, it's true that the Indian Ocean is becoming more crowded every year.
Ofcourse even the pakistanis are well aware we have the largest disparity in the navy when compared to the other two arms. If one doesn't take into account the subs pak will be getting from china, our coast guard could pretty much take care of PN.

China can never deploy all their assets in IOR...majority of em would still be in SCS and the Pacific. Our naval build up is not to match china in numbers but to decimate it in our home turf which is IOR
 
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I know that Pakistanis feel like that India's naval programs are targeting them but I assume that China is the actual benchmark for the Indian Navy. Besides, it's true that the Indian Ocean is becoming more crowded every year.
Pakistanis shouldn't worry until they invade India
 

Nilgiri

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Collect and discuss all articles and analysis here regarding Indian SSN program.

===========================


Guest Column | Time to Get Real​


The Indian Navy should be more realistic about its plan to build nuclear attack submarines

Capt. Jawahar Bhagwat PhD (retd)


For the SSN programme the design phase will be critical. Because unlike other nuclear submarine building navies, India does not have sufficient natural uranium and consequently enriched nuclear fuel unless there have been new discoveries which have gone unreported in the public domain. Therefore, it may be more prudent to look at a smaller displacement submarine like the Arihant which would not only be cost effective but also save time and effort in validating the design, construction of a new submarine and a new reactor. This would enable the builder to leverage the existing SSBN building line, more importantly a proven reactor and the lessons learnt from the first and second of the class. This will also provide more flexibility for berthing the platform in case of contingencies, which is presently extremely limited.

(More at link)
 

Nilgiri

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Thing with Arihant class was it started out as SSN concept and it was decided later to make it SSBN on that SSN sized reactor, hull etc. A "baby" boomer.

The next class of SSBN (S5 class) will be a proper more conventional SSBN size and capability.

ErXk9YJVkAEnHtx
 

Gary

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@Zapper @SHOX @Nilgiri is there any clue on how much Indian Navy SSN 75I noise generation? Consider that India is relatively new in the SSN building game.
 

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