The Indian Defense Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman made a very important announcement recently.
According to the announcement, India’s INS Arihant nuclear submarine is now equipped
with B-O5 or K 15 Submarine Launched Strategic Missile (SLBM). The missile is fully operational
and is capable of hitting targets with nuclear warheads at a range of 650 km to 750 km.
This propels India to a list of select countries which have this capability. This list includes
U.S.A, RUSSIA, CHINA, FRANCE, U.K and probably ISRAEL.
But this is just the beginning and India is working on K-4 SLBM.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes why not the AGNI 5 but upcoming K4 SLBM is India's
most powerful weapon against China?
Let's get into the details.
A nuclear triad is the capability to launch nukes from land, air, and sea and consists
of land-launched nuclear missiles, strategic aircraft with nuclear bombs or missiles and
nuclear-missile-armed submarines.
Each of these 3 platforms has their own advantages and disadvantages, but Nuclear powered ballistic
missile submarines are most survival part of a nuclear triad.
Strategic bombers can be taken out in the air or with a preemptive strike. Any ICBM,
be it American Minuteman III, Russian Sarmat or India Agni 5 are all vulnerable to a preemptive
strike as the launch site can be targeted.
Nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines being nuclear powered can loiter in the vast
oceans for a practically unlimited number of days, making them almost impossible to
detect using satellites or recon aircraft. So, the enemy cannot take them out with a
preemptive strike. This is especially significant as India has ‘No First Use of Nuclear Weapons’
policy. Only a few nations possess Nuclear powered
ballistic missile submarines, since developing these are very complex and cost-intensive
exercise.
The INS Arihant was the first Ballistic Missile Submarine to be completed under India’s
Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. The next 3 ships under this project, will
be larger to accommodate more weapons than INS Arihant.
The INS Arighat, the second Ballistic Missile Submarine, is currently under construction
and close to completion.
INS Arihant is capable of carrying 12 K15 or 4 K4 missiles and INS Arighat will be able
to carry 24 K15 or 8 K-4 missiles.
The K series missiles of named after Indian scientist and former Indian President, Dr.
A P J Abdul Kalam. Viewers may note that he is called the ‘ Missile Man of India' having
made major contributions in India’s missile programs.
K-4 is a nuclear-capable Intermediate-range submarine-launched ballistic missile under
development by Defense Research and Development Organization of India. It is currently in
the testing phase and is expected to be operational by 2020. K4 has a much longer range of 3500 km.
It weighs 17 tonnes, has a length of 12 m and diameter of 1.3 m. The missile is solid-fueled
and has an accuracy of 20-30m CEP. It will carry a single nuclear warhead with a yield
equivalent to 200-250 KT of TNT. For comparison, Hiroshima’s “Little Boy”
bomb had a yield of 13-18 kilotons whereas Nagasaki’s “Fat Man” bomb had a yield
of 20–22-kilotons of TNT.
With K4 India will be able to strike deep inside China when launched the Bay of Bengal.
The K-4 will greatly increase India’s second-strike capabilities and will act as a major deterrent
against China. It is interesting to note that India is also working on K 5 and K6 missiles
that will have much longer range, be MIRV enabled and will be deployed in a new series
of Ballistic Missile Submarine.