Submarine Matters has been covering India’s first SSBN, INS Arihant’s progress since Arihant's launch on July 26, 2009 at Shipbuilding Centre (SBC) Visakhapatnam (aka Vizag) on India’s eastern coast. SBC Vizag builds India’s SSBNs and will be building its future SSNs.
Arihant’s reactor went critical on August 10, 2013. Arihant is the lead submarine of the Arihant-class of four small SSBNs.
Ghalib Kabir wrote the information below on June 20, 2023:
The Indian Naval establishment has crossed a milestone in its N-Sub program with INS Arihant entering into its first refuel and deep maintenance cycle in November 2022.
American nuclear
reactor specialist, Peter Lobner, has produced a huge Marine Nuclear Power 2018 study. See
page 152 of one of his 100+MB PDF documents) which reports Arihant's reactor:
- [separately
designated] Compact Light-water reactor (CLWR-B1)
- is rated at 82.5 MWt
- with maximum propulsion power of 11.9 MW (aka 11.9 MWe) being about 16,000 shp.
- this HEU reactor is “about 30% U-235” [not 40% U-235 mentioned in other sources]
- with a core in “13 fuel assemblies with each assembly having 348 fuel pins”.
Arihant’s 2 year deep maintenance and refueling program
would give the Indian Navy first hand experience with spent fuel extraction, then nuclear fuel reloads and subsequent reprocessing of the extracted fuel.
Above is an overhead photo of INS
Arihant in dry dock at SBC Vizag for deep maintenance/refueling. It has been there since November
2022 and probably remains there. (Photo & captions courtesy Damien Symon @detresfa_ https://twitter.com/detresfa_/status/1612808236469727233 )
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[Submarine building and reactor development experience was partly gained by 600 Indian technicians being trained in Russia, with their families for a long-term stay, page 154, Lobner].
It is critical now that operational expertise is extending to maintaining and refueling nuclear
submarines locally in India.
Even from above it is obvious Indian designers benefitted from the Russian Kilo SSK design. This is clearly visible in the forward arrangement of Arihant, resembling an enlarged Kilo (not to mention the Russian 'show me' based learnings too).
The 7 bladed high-skew propeller is also visible. The missile silo section is covered....I hope the K series missile silos are being swapped out from the current K-15 SLBMs to the longer range K-4 MRBM/IRBMs (the K-4s are apparently in production phase).
Ghalib Kabir
June 20, 2023
6 comments:
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/stocks/lt-drdo-sign-contract-for-aip-system-modules-for-indian-navy-submarines-10840121.html
"Larsen & Toubro Ltd, commonly known as L&T, announced on June 22 the signing of a contract with DRDO for realisation of two Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) System Modules for Kalvari Class of Submarines of the Indian Navy."
Looks like the AIP for the Kalvari class is going ahead.
http://trishul-trident.blogspot.com/2023/06/updates-from-vizag-bhuj.html
More updates on Indian Nuclear Submarine program.
Thanks Prasun K. Sengupta at TRISHUL
For the link http://trishul-trident.blogspot.com/2023/06/updates-from-vizag-bhuj.html you posted above on "Updates from Vizag, Bhuj & Naliya"
with very interesting photos and the text:
"Construction of SBC-2, the second final-assembly line for the Indian Navy's six-boat SSN project, should be completed by the end of 2024. Thus, it can be concluded that the various hull-sections fabricated by Larsen & Toubro at its Hazira industrial facility will start arriving at SBC-2 from early 2025 onwards. This in turn implies fabrication of hull modules have already commenced at Hazira with the DMR-292A/292B steel that is being produced by SAIL."
Regards Pete
Hi Anonymous at 6/23/2023 2:13 AM
It is good DRDO's AIP is one business contractual step closer.
I've been studying DRDO's AIP program for 10+ years.
I see it as a long term Indian hedging effort in case already fully developed AIP tech from Germany or South Korea fails to be transferred to India. Such a tech transfer would be for retrofitting to India's Kalvari-class SSKs and for the future SSK class under Project 75(I).
Regards Pete
Hi Pete,
It seems India is going ahead with the purchase of 31 x MQ-9B drones from the US. The largest operator would be the Indian Navy with 15 x SeaGuardians while the Army Aviation & Air Force operate 8 x each of the SkyGuardian variant. Note that these figures are as approved by the Indian MoD's Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) and the final deal may or may not undergo some changes once the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) goes through it before releasing finances.
I'd say it's a huge step being taken to give the Indian Navy truly persistent ISR capabilities across the IOR area. The MQ-9B, like the P-8I, should be capable of fully networking with partner assets in the region. The SeaGuardian should also be capable of ASW roles such as deploying sonobuoys around a contact shared by the P-8.
I've just read the Joint Statement from the White House during Prime Minister Modi's visit and it seems the program also includes a domestic assembly/production clause which means all of the drones may not come from the US and instead some might be assembled locally with a degree of domestic industrial contribution. There's also mention of building a Comprehensive Global MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul) facility in the country which means not only the Indian-operated drones but also those operated by other Indo-Pacific partners in the area may head there for servicing their drone fleets instead of going all the way to the continental United States. It's not known if the MRO facility includes services only for the MQ-9B or for other drone platforms as well.
It serves to know that an MRO facility meant for P-8 surveillance aircraft is already up & running in the country.
There's also programs being implemented for expanding the size & scope of Ship Repair agreements for US Navy assets deployed in the region.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-in-us-joe-biden-defence-drones-deal-facts-about-mq-9b-predator-reaper-101687430639602.html
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/06/22/joint-statement-from-the-united-states-and-india/
Cheers
Thanks Gessler for your 6/24/2023 12:42 AM post on India buying 31 x MQ-9B Reapers.
The SeaGuardian variant angle is particularly interesting. I'll turn your post into an article soon.
Meanwhile Australia ordered and has recently cancelled the Sea Guardian/Mariner, likely in favour of a future https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_MQ-28_Ghost_Bat variant with modifications for extended over water loiter capability.
Cheers Pete
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