Indian Navy Goes Nuclear: Country's First Nuke Sub Undergoing Sea Tests

India's first indigenous armed nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, is undergoing sea acceptance trials and will be inducted into the Indian Navy after that.

"INS Arihant is now undergoing sea acceptance trails as it had already passed several deep sea diving drills. The submarine will be commissioned after completing all the sea trials," said H.C.S. Bisht, Vice Admiral of the Indian Navy.

Arihant is the country's first indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic submarine and the lead ship of India's newest Arihant class submarines. It was built under the Advanced Technology Vessel Project at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam, one of 13 major ports in India. Consultancy for this project was provided by Russia.

The vessel was launched on July 2009. It weighs 6,000 tons and can launch underwater nuclear weapons. Its 100-member crew has been trained by Russian specialists. With Russian assistance Indian scientists succeeded in reducing the size of the reactor to fit it into the 33 feet diameter hull of the submarine.

Experts say the launch of Arihant will strengthen India's effort to build a reliable nuclear triad — the capability to fire nuclear weapons from air, land and sea.