Indian Missile Submarine Under Construction

An Indian submarine capable of carrying nuclear-armed ballistic missiles could be ready for sea trials in 2009, Defense News reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 29).

Workers have laid the hull for the submarine, called the Advanced Technology Vessel, at the Larsen & Toubro shipyard, according to Navy sources.

India is seeking to add a sea-based component to its strategic nuclear forces, much like the major nuclear-weapon states, said one defense analyst.

“The sea leg of the nuclear triad is best provided by ballistic missiles positioned on a nuclear submarine, because this leg is clearly the least vulnerable, and therefore, the most survivable,” said Gurpreet Khurana, of the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis.  “India has very rightly opted for this course for its sea-based leg of the nuclear triad, as is evident from the ATV project” (Vivek Raghuvanshi, Defense News, Oct. 15).

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