INS Arihant : Updates & Discussion

[faithfulguy]

May i know what is your technical qualification with respect to nuclear Submarines??


don't take it personally i just want to know as you always gives us your valuable informative expert comment in every thread.
i was just just asking so that we can know and can get that degree so that we can develop our most advance Submarine.

Check out the Ohio class nuclear sub. That is a real nuclear sub.

 

[jha]

what is the need to compare....this is the first baby step....hope we will start running pretty fast...

 

[unicorn148]

this sub was developed so we can learn how to build then this is the first time we have built a sub on our own design so we are learning and it takes time to master anything and the day we master it we will come out with what you say a real nuclear sub and that is not too far

 

[Chanakyaa]

INS ARIHANT : The Complete Discussion​

INS Arihant Needs no Introduction. Yet I dedicate this Thread which will aim at all miniscule points that can be discussed and users would get complete info of this marvellous Indian Achievement.

Welcome To INS Arihant !


Okey so Whats the Fuss About INS Arihant??

The Indian Navy leased a Project 670A Skat (Charlie I Class) nuclear-powered submarine (INS Chakra in Indian Naval service) for three years - from 04 January 1988 to January 1991. The boat was was manned by a Russian crew who also had the task of training Indian submariners on how to operate the nuclear-powered vessel.

In addition to becoming a training ground, INS Chakra also acted as a design laboratory for developing and testing indigenous nuclear submarine technologies. The lease was not extended after January 1991 and the submarine was returned back to Vladivostock, Russia where it was decommissioned from Russian naval service.

The Russian crew that trained the Indian submariners have reportedly taken key posts, probably in the Indian Naval Design Organisation, to design India's first nuclear-powered submarine codenamed the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV).

This top secret project has facilities in New Delhi, at Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh and at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. The plan is for a class of five submarines fitted with long-range, nuclear-tipped missiles. A nuclear-capable missile (Sagarika) is reportedly under development at the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) at Bangalore, Karnataka.

The naval wing of DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organisation) manages the organization and since 1985 has always had a retired Vice Admiral in charge. Vice Admiral Bharat Bhushan is the first known Director General of the program. In late 2000, the project was given a new lease of life with the appointment of Vice Admiral R.N. Ganesh (Retd) to take charge. An experienced submariner, he was the first commander of INS Chakra. In early 2004, Vice Admiral P.C. Bhasin (Retd) was appointed as the head of the ATV program, as he was the former Chief of Material. As per a news article in domain-B, dated 19 May 2007, Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh (Retd) is to be appointed as the new Director General (DG) of the highly-classified ATV program.

He too had commanded INS Chakra during her service with the Indian Navy. He also commanded submarine shore establishments, INS Virbahu and INS Satvahana and served as the Director of Submarine Operations. As the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Submarines), he authored the Indian Navy's 30 year submarine construction program and was also responsible for the modernisation of the submarine force, primarily the Sindhugosh Class boats.

Rahul Bedi in a news article in IndiaPRWire, dated 17 May 2007, stated the following;

• The vessel will be based on the Charlie I Class boat and will be 124 meters long, have a displacement of 4000 tons and be fitted with a 100 MW nuclear reactor, developed jointly by DAE (Department of Atomic Energy) and DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organisation). Bharat Rakshak Note: Earlier reports indicated that the boat could likely resemble the Russian Navy's new Severodvinsk Class attack submarine and/or the Akula Class attack submarine, of which the Indian Navy reportedly plans to lease a pair.

• The 100 MW nuclear reactor went critical in October 2004 at Kalpakkam and is now fully operational. A miniaturised version of the reactor is under construction for integration into the ATV at Visakhapatnam.

In July 2006, then-incumbent Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee inspected the ATV's reactor project while participating in the 20th anniversary celebrations of the commissioning of the Fast Breeder Test Reactor at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research in Kalpakkam. Earlier, in October 2004, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the ATV facility when he launched the construction of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. The Prototype Testing Centre at Kalpakkam will be used to test the boat's turbines & propellers while a similar facility at Visakhapatnam will run trials on the vessel's main turbines & gearbox.

• Officials familiar with the ATV project stated that the highly enriched uranium fuel for the reactor was supplied by the Rare Materials Project (RMP) in Ratnahalli near Mysore, Karnataka. The four to five years delay in the reactor reaching criticality, was due to the extended time taken by RMP to produce an adequate quantity of uranium, the officials added. While many components of the reactor like the steam-generator and the control rod mechanism have been indigenously developed within India itself, senior naval officers stated that Russia had helped Indian scientists overcome certain technical hurdles. This included assistance not only in designing the vessel's reactor, but also guidelines in eventually mating it with the boat's hull. The involvement of Larsen & Toubro, that began in 2001, helped kick-start the stalled ATV project. L&T was awarded the contract to build the hull (code named P 4102) at its Hazira dockyard facility in Gujarat and has already floated sections of it on a barge to Visakhapatnam.

Note : The Actual Sub Seems to be Based on Akula I design with 80 MW Reactor.

So Its a Great Leap for Indian Nuclear Technology as well as Ship Building, Design and Development.



How Does This Submarine Work and How its Different from a Conventional Submarine ?

A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor.

The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for conventional submarines; the large amount of power generated by a nuclear reactor allows nuclear submarines to operate at high speed for long durations; and the long interval between refuellings grants a range limited only by consumables such as food.

Current generations of nuclear submarines never need to be refueled throughout their 25-year lifespans.

Conversely, the limited power stored in electric batteries means that even the most advanced conventional submarine can only remain submerged for a few days at slow speed, and only a few hours at top speed; recent advances in air-independent propulsion have eroded this disadvantage somewhat.

The high cost of nuclear technology means that relatively few states have fielded nuclear submarines.

Tha Advantages and Disadvantages of a Nuclear Submarine ::

The nuclear plant is smaller and lighter than an equivalent-sized diesel. They don't have to figure out where to put the diesel tank. The boat doesn't have to come to snorkel depth every so often to recharge its batteries--whether the boat is a diesel or a nuc, every modern sub turns its propeller with an electric motor.

And with nuclear propulsion, where the refueling interval is measured in years, the only thing that limits the length of a mission is the amount of food the boat is able to carry. If they can find somewhere to store a year's worth of food, they can stay out that long.

The Arihant with an endurance of over 3 Months is Best suited for Nuclear Second Strike as its Hard to detect This Sub.

There are three disadvantages to nuclear propulsion, and two are environmental. The first is the need to deal with the used fuel.

The other is, if the boat sinks from enemy action or mishap, radiation can possibly enter the atmosphere.

The third is tactical. Modern nuclear boats cool their reactors by convection--there are water inlets and outlets on the hull, and the movement of the boat causes water to flow through them. (This replaces a water pump, which is noisy.)

To get the convection system to work, the boat has to be in constant motion. A diesel boat, or a nuc boat with a coolant pump--some Soviet SSNs had them--can settle to the ocean floor under a shipping lane and shoot torpedoes at passing enemy ships; a nuc boat with convection cooling can't do that.

The Working Of a Nuclear Submarine ::

The main difference between conventional submarines and nuclear submarines is the power generation system. Nuclear submarines employ nuclear reactors for this task.

They either generate electricity that powers electric motors connected to the propeller shaft or rely on the reactor heat to produce steam that drives steam turbines (cf. nuclear marine propulsion). Reactors used in submarines typically use highly enriched fuel (often greater than 20&#37 to enable them to deliver a large amount of power from a smaller reactor.

The nuclear reactor also supplies power to the submarine's other subsystems, such as for maintenance of air quality, fresh water production by distilling salt water from the ocean, temperature regulation, etc. All naval nuclear reactors currently in use are operated with diesel generators as a backup power system.

These engines are able to provide emergency electrical power for reactor decay heat removal as well as enough electric power to supply an emergency propulsion mechanism. Submarines may carry nuclear fuel for up to 30 years of operation. The only resource that limits the time underwater is the food supply for the crew and maintenance of the vessel.

The Conventianl Submarine Has to Surface from Time to Time to Recharge its Batteries.

The New AIP ( Air Independent Propulsion Systems ) Like those employed in the German Type 214 is an advanced that can enable the sub to remain under water for over a week.

The German Type 212 ::

What are the Capabilities of This Submarine?

Class and type: Arihant-class submarine

Type: SSBN or SSGN

Length: 111 m (364 ft)

Beam: 15 m (49 ft)

Draft: 11 m (36 ft)

Propulsion: PWR using 40% enriched uranium fuel (80 MWe )[2]; one turbine (47,000 hp/70 MW); one shaft; one 7-bladed, high-skew propeller (estimated)

Range: unlimited except by food supplies

Test depth: 300 m (980 ft) (estimated)

Complement: 95–100 officers and men
Sensors and

processing systems: BEL USHUS

Armament:

• 
  
  [*]6 x 533mm torpedoes
  [*]12 x K-15 Sagarika SLBM
  [*]Shaurya missile (expected)
  [*] Agni III SL
  

What is the Current Progress ( June 2010 ) ?

'Second indigenous nuke sub will be ready soon'

By Ritu Sharma, New Delhi, Aug 18 : India's second indigenous nuclear-powered submarine will be ready soon and will take less time from launch to induction than the first one, says a retired Indian Navy officer who was associated with the top secret project since its inception.

"The second one will be ready and will take lesser time," Vice Admiral (retd.) Mihir K. Roy told IANS in an exclusive interview.

Roy, who is now 84, was the first head of the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) that was launched in 1984 and guided it during its first four years. He has been involved in all the back room negotiations with the then Soviet Union, which assisted in the project. He is now director of think tank Society for Indian Ocean Studies.

Roy said the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 delayed the ATV project, under which India aimed to initially design and construct three nuclear-powered combat submarines within the country.

The first vessel, INS Arihant, was launched into the waters July 26. When she is inducted into service after three-years of sea trials, India will became only the sixth country in the world after the US, Russia, Britain, France and China to be capable of designing and constructing nuclear-powered nuclear submarines.

"We were going fast (on the project). But there was a long delay. Then the USSR fell and there was tremendous social, political and technological changes in the country. All contracts (on the ATV project) were changed," Roy said.

"In 2004, Russia stabilised and we signed fresh contracts in dollars. Money was a problem for them because they (Russians) were short of dollars," he added.

The Soviet Union had in 1981 offered to help with the design and construction of a nuclear submarine. In 1988, it had also leased a nuclear submarine, INS Chakra, for five years to enable the Indian Navy, its first batch of officers and sailors, in operating such vessels.

The ATV project was made successful by the close partnership of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and other public and private sector undertakings.

The project was conceptualised around the same time as those to produce an indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) and a main battle tank MBT). Both these projects have suffered heavy cost and time overruns, making the launch of INS Arihant a "historic milestone" for the Indian Navy.

"I said that I wanted to report directly to the defence minister, with no interference from secretaries and bureaucrats. It worked. Decisions were made across the table," said Roy, a submariner and former chief of the Eastern Naval Command.

He noted that extra security precautions had to be taken to maintain the secrecy of the project to prevent triggering an arms race on the subcontinent.

"We did not even have a name plate (outside the office). Nobody in my family, not even my wife, was aware what I was doing. On July 26 (when INS Arihatn was launched) my

grandchildren said: 'You never told us!' " Roy said.

"I got the dry docks (at the Visakhapatnam Ship Building Centre) covered; otherwise satellites would have spotted the vessel and taken pictures," Roy reminisced, adding: "I also got the dry docks lengthened."

The Launch Ceremony ::

July 26, 2009, (Sawf News) - During the launch of INS Arihant on Sunday, July 26, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not mince words while acknowledging Russia's role in the fruition of the challenging project.

"I would also like to express our appreciation to our Russian friends for their consistent and invaluable cooperation, which symbolizes the close strategic partnership that we enjoy with Russia."

India is reported to have acquired design of the Charlie II class nuclear submarines from Russia and the ATV was based on those designs.

The Arihant is 112m long as compared to 103m Charlie class subs, probably because a section was added in the middle to accommodate its missile tube.

Its 10m beam is the same size as a Charlie class sub.

Like the Charlie II subs, Arihant has a single nuclear power plant which gives it a rather limited max underwater speed of 24 kts. Not enough to chase warships or get away from them when it is detected.

Though the Arihant is based on the Charlie II class, it likely incorporates a lot of advancements in propulsion, noise suppression, command and control, communication and sonar that the Russians learnt since they built the Charlie II subs, as well as what the Indians learnt while building the HDW boats.

Unofficial illustrations of the boat show elements of Akula design like the towed sonar at the aft. However, Arihant is unlikely to be based on the Akula II or the more modern Graney class Russian subs, as reported in some sections of the press, since these subs use a twin hull design and are therefore considerably heavier. Not surprisingly the Akula is powered by a 190 MW reactor.

A lot of recent speculation in the press has focused on the nuclear propulsion of the Arihant with many analysts saying that the success of the project depended on its reactor reaching criticality. BARC has an excellent track record and the reactor is likely to have been tested before being fitted. Nuclear subs routinely power up and down. There is good reason to believe that problems with the reactor design have long been sorted out.

Once Arihant's nuclear propulsion is proven the stress will shift to weapon testing.

The Sagarika's limited range of 700km makes it inadequate even as a deterrent against Pakistan, let alone China.

There have been misleading press reports that as a vital component of India's credible minimum deterrent strategy, Arihant is designed to lurk in littoral waters of Pakistan and China to fire its very limited range nuclear missiles in case India comes under a nuclear attack. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It will be years, more likely decades, before the Navy acquires the confidence to send an Arihant class nuclear submarine close to the Chinese or even Pakistani mainland. At the very least the sub would need to repeatedly demonstrate its ability to operate under the sea for months without returning to base.

Arihant's limited underwater speed of 24 kts makes it incapable of running away from modern warships once detected. Nuclear subs tend to be noisy when operating at max speeds, Arihant will in all probability be very noisy.

Acoustic and magnetic signatures are unlikely to be priorities with project managers grappling with their first nuclear submarine project.

As soon as Arihant is deployed on patrol its movement will be tracked by the Americans and possibly by the Chinese.

There isn't a boomer armed with nuclear missiles in the open oceans that isn't being tracked by America. Russian boomers that threaten America are essentially those that are lurking under the ice in the Arctic circle or in Russian coastal areas.

China has operated nuclear submarines for over 25 years now, but none of their submarines have ventured too far away from the Chinese mainland. Their subs are, however, equipped with missiles that can be launched at the US mainland from within Chinese waters.

The acknowledged range of the Sagarika missile, 700 km, is likely its range with a 500 kg warhead. With a lighter nuclear warhead it could conceivably go as far as 1500 km. Deployed in Indian territorial waters the Arihant can threaten Pakistan but not China.

Hopefully, DRDO will be ready with the Agni IIISL within a year or two which will give Indian Strategic Command the option to launch counter value nuclear strikes on mainland China from within Indian waters.

It could well be another 5 years before that capability is reached.

It could probably be a decade before an Arihant nuclear submarine leaves the Indian ocean.

It is likely that followup nuclear subs will accommodate more sections to carry at least 12 launch tubes instead of the four that the sub currently carries. They will need more powerful nuclear power plants to propel their greater weight and achieve speeds in excess of 30 kts.

 

[Chanakyaa]

The Nuclear Reactor of INS Arihant ::

The Actual Submarine ::

​

 

[Chanakyaa]

Your Comments are Most Welcome.

 

[sudhir007]

XiNiX you are rocking again nice to see you again making good thread

 

[Chanakyaa]

Thanks sudhir....

 

[brahmastra]

I have a question?
figure says diameter of 'main body' of arihant is 11 meters.
length of Agni-1 is 15 meters and advanced agni versions got more length than agni 1.

that means, we can't fit any of the agni there.

 

[satishkumarcsc]

I have a question?
figure says diameter of 'main body' of arihant is 11 meters.
length of Agni-1 is 15 meters and advanced agni versions got more length than agni 1.

that means, we can't fit any of the agni there.

Land launched and sub launched missile systems are totally different. You always need to develop a missile specific for submarine launch.

 

[Chanakyaa]

Look at agni 3 SL its much less in height.

 

[brahmastra]

Look at agni 3 SL its much less in height.

still its nearly 150% longer than arihant.

 

[Bhairava]

Some where i checked Arihant can exceed 35 knots

 

[praveen007]

@ xinix
Thanks thats look so beautiful. again u rocks mate with this pics. tipical feel might serise post.

 

[saurabh]

I have a question?
figure says diameter of 'main body' of arihant is 11 meters.
length of Agni-1 is 15 meters and advanced agni versions got more length than agni 1.

that means, we can't fit any of the agni there.

Can the missile be placed in a tilted position?