India Successfully Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile From Strategic Strike Submarine

Indian defense researchers have been developing a range of series K submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), ranging from 500 km to 6,000 km, which are designed to boost the navy's strike capabilities in the Indian Ocean.

India's domestically-developed strategic strike submarine, the INS Arihant, has completed a user training launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, the defense ministry announced on Friday.

The Arihant, meaning “Slayer of Enemies” in Sanskrit, uses a uranium-fueled pressurized light-water reactor, allowing the Indian navy to deploy submarines which don't need to return to base for months.

Describing the launch as a significant development to prove crew competency and validate the SSBN program, the ministry underlined that the missile impacted the target area in the Bay of Bengal with “very high accuracy.”

The SSBN is a key element of India’s nuclear deterrence capability. The defense ministry reiterated its “No First Use” commitment to a nuclear arsenal in event of war.

"A robust, survivable and assured retaliatory capability is in keeping with India’s policy to have ‘Credible Minimum Deterrence’ that underpins its ‘No First Use’ commitment," the ministry emphasized.

India is part of the elite club of nations, namely the US, Russia, the UK, France, and China, which have the capabilities to launch nuclear missiles from sea, air, and undersea platforms.