India's second nuclear-powered missile submarine likely to be commissioned today       

New Delhi, August 29

India's second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine SSBN (Ship, Submersible, Ballistic, Nuclear), INS Arighat, is scheduled to be commissioned by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today in Visakhapatnam, sources in the defence establishment said.

The commissioning of INS Arighat is being seen as a step towards boosting India's naval prowess and nuclear deterrence capabilities. More details are awaited as officials remained tight-lipped about the commissioning. India's nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) programme is a closely guarded project.

INS Arihant — India's first home-made nuclear submarine — was launched in July, 2009, and was quietly commissioned in 2016. In October, 2022, INS Arihant carried out a successful launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in the Bay of Bengal with a ‘very high accuracy’, the defence ministry had said.

The ministry had also said that the SSBN programme is a key element of India's nuclear deterrence capability.