Arihant-class SSBN - News & Discussions
- Thread starter Nick
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We will continue to get conflicting reports for a long time. Gotta wait for official releases.
When it comes to media and nuclear tech, they think they managed to get something, but...
Lots of inaccuracies in the article. He seems to think we don't have a different nuclear storage policy for the SSBN fleet.
True for land and air based Nukes. But not for sea based.
And why should they have SSBNs patrolling the IOR? Armed with 12 JL-2 SLBM with 8000 KM range, why have them pass through the most contested and observed region in the world? Very juvenile article.
Mostly all accurate but PKS doesn't seem to be aware that much of S4 hull construction including the VLS section were completed few years back, the heart of the unit was however not ready. Is it ready now? No clue. S5 hull fabrication was contracted long before S3 touched water, maybe too much information now. Good Day!
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Interesting.How many SSBN's & SSN's are we going to have, by say, 2035-40 timelines ?You contend that while we have fabricated the hulls of not only the S-4 & S-4* ( assuming there's an intermediate SSBN before we move on to the definitive SSBN's which will arguably be the mainstay of our N deterrence namely the S-5 series ) but also the S-5 & are awaiting further developments in the N reactor to power the same.
What, in your estimate,will be the capacity ( in MWe) of the S-4, S-4* & the S-5 series? What will be the no of silos they contain? For that matter, is the S-3 identical to the S-2 in terms of the capacity of the N reactor and the silos it contains or is it an enhanced version of the S-2 ( if it is enhanced, could you provide figures for the capacity of its N reactor & the silos) Finally, can't we go in for 2 N reactors of the size -& capacity of the N reactor that powers the S-2?
SSBN- 12-15 or so.
SSN- 20+
These are pretty conservative estimates particuarly on the SSN side, if the IN really commits then they can start to be churned out like hot cake like the 17As, after 2030 there's no reason why 1-2 SSN can't be put in the water every year. If the IN wants 10+ SSBNs then it will need about 35+ SSNs (just my calculation) as the general rule is that SSBNs have SSN escorts when on deterrence patrol and obviously the IN won't want to devote all of its SSN fleet to just escorting the SSBNs (or aircraft carriers).
Numbers aren't so important at this point but the ancilary infra.
My biggest question on this subject is the C&C, we have a pretty good idea of how the US and even Russian at-sea nuclear forces operate and how they are directed but there's not much clarity on India's approach. I'd assume it's pretty much identical to the US's but then how does the exact line of authorisation take place? This is a very new capability for India, the seniormost military and civilian leadership will have had to been given very comprehensive breifings on this and a number of drills will have had to have been run.
Now I have since mid-2017 noticed what appears to be an India "nucelar football" travelling with the PM but am not sure how much I should read into this.
Thats actually a Ballistic briefcase. Before only one guy was carrying it, now there are two.
There is another guy carrying a heavy briefcase around but I totally doubt its the football of any sorts. He is too exposed all the time he jumps out of the vehicle before anyone else. Watch at 1:52
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We cant convert MWt to MWe without knowing what the efficiency(%) is. In simple terms, a more efficient reactor will have a better MWe output. However, the figures quoted in the article could be fictional, no way to confirm its validity.
I apologize for the delay. Some of the topics are beyond my knowledge, some better untold. I'll try and answer a few I can.
6 SSN + 2 S2 Class + 2 S4 Class + unknown number of new class/S4 SSBNs as per plans by 2032. (But trust me nothing goes as per plans, more so because we are still experimenting with some of these units)
[/QUOTE]You contend that while we have fabricated the hulls of not only the S-4 & S-4* ( assuming there's an intermediate SSBN before we move on to the definitive SSBN's which will arguably be the mainstay of our N deterrence namely the S-5 series ) but also the S-5 & are awaiting further developments in the N reactor to power the same. What, in your estimate,will be the capacity ( in MWe) of the S-4, S-4* & the S-5 series?[/QUOTE]
Personally, no clue about S4*. This started doing the rounds in media with an assumption that S3 is a bigger boat than S2- Arihant, which to me is wrong. The attached picture from Livefist is the first time I saw S4* being mentioned in the media.
I haven't mentioned that S5 hull was completed, but that it was contracted a few years back. The trend with the program so far has been that IN insisted on the hulls being fabricated without waiting for the reactor to mature to avoid significant delays.
I'm unable to provide any numbers on the reactor performance, but I can throw some light on the background. S2 and S3 have identical reactors with similar thermal ratings but improvements/refinements had helped improve MWe output for S3. I can't confirm if the same improvements/refinements were then embodied on S2. S4/S5 was destined to receive a bigger reactor and with higher output due to the number of missile silos being doubled to 8, but the status of that development is classified.
S2/S3 - 4 silos (Same reactor/minor refinements-improved performance/efficiency)
S4/S5 - 8 silos (Could have more units with improvements until development efforts for bigger unit is completed)
SX - 12 silos
Possible, could even be the adopted technique for the bigger SSBNs with 12 silos, but there is an understanding that S2 reactor could use further improvements in performance. While bigger is better, slow and steady is the way to go. The SSBN project was in full swing even during Congress rule, so this is one of those projects that had received our best efforts. It will just be slower than we'd like, but we will get there.
^ Consider all of this just as personal opinions only, discard at will
Good Day!
No clue honestly. 2 years back, the plan was to begin hull fabrication by 2020-22 timeframe. There is no information if that timeframe will be maintained.
Good Day!
You don't have to tell me about the collapsed ballistic sheilds!
I do watch these things quite closely and have noticed recently what looks like a portable SATCOM terminal being carried by members of the PM's entourage. Some clarity on this would be helpful from official sources but then there's also not much need to be disclosing all these things right now.
A journalist who is either misinformed or spreading disinformation, likely the former.
If that image is of Arihant, then my god, BARC has developed one of the slimmest reactor ever built for submarine.
IN should consider 6000 tonnes SSNs rather then going for 10k tonnes, which will be larger and will require more maintenance.
IN should consider 6000 tonnes SSNs rather then going for 10k tonnes, which will be larger and will require more maintenance.
The slimest operationnal one is in the french Rubis class I think. 2700 tons.
New pictures of our nuclear babies..
Note 3 nuclear submarines in a single photo and definitely there could be one more in pen....
One of our nuclear baby with operational K4 missile clearly visible...
Found this from a Chinese source. @safriz @Neo when can we see green painted missiles emerging from sea...
Note 3 nuclear submarines in a single photo and definitely there could be one more in pen....
One of our nuclear baby with operational K4 missile clearly visible...
Found this from a Chinese source. @safriz @Neo when can we see green painted missiles emerging from sea...