INS Arighat SSBN : Ghost is ready for Official Induction later this year
India’s Second Nuclear Ballistic Submarine INS Arighat was launched in 2017 without any high-profile public ceremony and even the small event which took behind the closed door was also never officially acknowledged where the submarine was quietly floated out of one of the Shipbuilding center (SBC) Drydocks in the Visakhapatnam which as per informed course close to idrw.org will be quietly inducted into Indian Navy after three years of Sea Trials.
Recent Low-Grade imaginary of the Shipbuilding Center (SBC) collected by Indian Open-source intelligence (OSINT) has confirmed that the Ghost is real and was seen along with INS Arihant anchored at the Port facilities and so do exists images where it can’t be found in satellite imagery of the port when probably it is in high seas for sea trials.
While the Indian Government has maintained Total silence on the INS Arighat and is displacement, but Indian Open-source intelligence (OSINT) have found a mysterious submarine caught on satellite imagery that to be longer and bigger than INS Arihant even though INS Arighat is still called as the sister ship of the Arihant class of submarines, which could have meant it was supposed to be near-identical to the INS Arihant at least in displacement and size even though no two submarines Internally are same even if they are from same sister class due to advancement of technologies which are usually upgraded over the years while its under construction.
By End of 2020 or in the first half of 2021 will also see first of the Enhanced Arihant class submarines with an extra 1000 tonne displacement finally moving out of the Shipbuilding center (SBC) Dry-docks in the Visakhapatnam and into the Sea for Sea trials. Code named S4 and its sister ship code-named S4* ‘Star’ will have twice the missile load when compared to the INS Arihant. S4 by 2021 will be followed up by S4* ‘Star’ in 2023.
India also has kicked off design work of the indigenous SSN ‘Attack Submarine ‘ program in 2017 which will have a surface displacement of 6000 tonnes the same as Arihant-class ballistic missile submarine but will be powered by a more powerful Nuclear pressurized water reactor (PWR) for its Propulsion which is under development at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
India also has plans to develop S5 Class of Nuclear Ballistic Submarines which will be Twice the surface displacement of Arihant-class at 13000 tonnes post-construction of the S4 and S4* ‘Star’ but with some speculation that indigenous SSN ‘Attack Submarine ‘ program might get priority due to lack of Conventional Attack submarines in the Indian Navy and also due to aging of the current German Shishumar-class and Russian Kilo Class of diesel-electric attack submarines.
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