INS Arihant to undergo missile tests, to be inducted by Feb 2016

INS Arihant

India's first indigenously developed nuclear submarine Arihant, which has 'successfully' completed sea trials held so far, will undergo its maiden missile firing test this month, a top defence source said. The aim is to handover the submarine to the Indian navy during the International Fleet Review scheduled in February next year in Vishakapatnam, they said.

"The tests held so far have been successful. We will, this month, fire the Nirbhay Missile from the submarine which will be followed by the firing of another type of missile", sources said.

While Nirbhay is a 1000-km long range subsonic cruise missile, the next missile would be India's first Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), which has a range of about 700 kms. These would be followed by another few rounds of tests.

India plans to build at least two more Arihant-class submarines. India had started building the Arihant in the 1990s under its highly secretive ATV (Advanced Technology Vessel) programme. 

Though the Arihant was initially supposed to be a fast-attack submarine, the project was realigned to make it a ballistic missile submarine following the nuclear test conducted by India in 1998.

After its launch in 2009, INS Arihant went through extensive tests including harbor acceptance trials with the on-board reactor going critical in 2013. It left harbor for its sea trials in December 2014.