India has to launch nuclear weapons from air, land and water, the Arihant, India’s first indigenously built naval ship, was reportedly commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August this year, after it was declared ready for operations in February.

The ship can carry nuclear tipped ballistic missiles or Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclears. India’s land-based Agni missiles and fighter bombers have been able to launch nuclear missiles for some years now.

The features of INS Arihant:

• The indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant is propelled by an 83 MW pressurised light-water reactor at its core.
• It was commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August this year, after it was declared ready for operations in February.
• Arihant belongs to Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear or SSBN class of naval ships, that are capable of lurking undetected in deep sea levels for months and also can carry nuclear weapons, The Hindu reported.
• The submarine will be equipped with four K-4 intermediate range ballistic missiles and 12 short-range K-15 missiles. The K-4 missiles can have nuclear warheads.
• It provides India with ‘second strike capability’, meaning the capability to strike back after a nuclear attack from another country.

Apart from India, only 5 countries in the world had developed nuclear-armed submarines, which include USA, UK, France, Russia and China.