Updated: October 4, 2020 8:19:14 pm
These submarines can not only survive a first attack from the adversary, but they can also launch a retaliatory attack thus achieving credible nuclear deterrence. (Proceedings)
India conducted a successful test of the nuclear-capable Shaurya missile, the ANI news agency reported on Saturday. Shaurya is a ground parallel to the K-15 missile launched from a submarine. These ballistic weapons belong to the family of K missiles, codenamed after the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, which are launched from the Arihant class of nuclear submarines.
A look at what this family of missiles is, its strategic importance as a nuclear deterrent, and its recent tests.
The K missile family
The family of K missiles are primarily Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), which have been developed locally by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and are named after Dr. Kalam, the central figure in space programs and missile officer who also served as the 11th president of India.
The development of these missiles launched from naval platforms began in the late 1990s as a step towards the completion of India’s nuclear triad – the ability to launch nuclear weapons from land, sea and air assets.
Because these missiles will be launched from submarines, they are lighter, smaller, and more stealthy than their land-based counterparts, the Agni series of missiles, which are medium-range and intercontinental nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. While the K-family are primarily submarine-fired missiles that are fired from India’s Arihant-class nuclear powered platforms, the ground and air variants of some of its members have also been developed by the DRDO.
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Shaurya, whose user test was carried out on Saturday, is a short-range ground variant of the SLBM K-15 Sagarika, which has a range of at least 750 kilometers.
India has also developed and successfully tested the family’s K-4 missiles that have a range of 3,500 km several times. More members of the K family are reportedly being developed as well, supposedly codenamed K-5 and K-6, with ranges of 5,000 and 6,000 km. The first development tests of the K-15 and K-4 missiles had begun in the early 2010s.
The strategic importance of SLBM
The ability to launch submarine platforms of nuclear weapons is of great strategic importance in the context of achieving a nuclear triad, especially in light of India’s “no first use” policy. Sea-based submarine nuclear capable assets significantly increase a country’s second strike capability and thus increase its nuclear deterrence. These submarines can not only survive a first attack from the adversary, but they can also launch a retaliatory attack thus achieving credible nuclear deterrence. The nuclear-powered Arihant submarine commissioned in 2016 and its class members, which in the pipeline, are assets capable of launching missiles with nuclear warheads.
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The development of these capabilities is important in light of India’s relations with its two neighbors China and Pakistan. As China has deployed many of its submarines, including some nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable, this capacity building is crucial to India’s nuclear deterrence. In November 2018, after INS Arihant became fully operational, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “In an age like this, credible nuclear deterrence is the need of the moment. The success of the INS Arihant provides an adequate response to those who indulge in nuclear blackmail ”.
Recent tests
In the third week of January this year, DRDO conducted two successful tests of the K-4 missile from submerged platforms off the coast of Andhra Pradesh in a span of six days. These tests were a key step in finally implementing K-4 at INS Arihant, which already has K-15 on board. In Saturday’s test, Shaurya was tested for several advanced parameters compared to his previous tests, according to sources.
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Shaurya, like many modern missiles, is a cartridge-based system, which means that it stores and operates from specially designed compartments. In the boat, the interior environment is controlled, so in addition to facilitating their transport and storage, the useful life of the weapons is also significantly improved.
While DRDO has been conducting these tests, there has been no official communication from the agency on them, possibly due to the classified nature of the K-family missile projects and their close link to the Advanced Technology Vehicles (ATV) project. ) of which the Arihant class ships part of. These recent tests of these systems can also be seen as a strong message for China and Pakistan in light of the current situation in the region.
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