India is now the sixth country to have nuclear-powered submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles.
India has successfully tested a ballistic missile fired from its first domestic nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant, the Defense Ministry said, in a move seen as a boost to the country’s growing military capabilities.
The launch was a testament to “crew competence” and validated Indian submarines’ ballistic missile capability, “a key element of India’s nuclear deterrent capability,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
“All the operational and technological parameters of the weapon system” launched by INS Arihant in the Bay of Bengal have been passed, the ministry added.
India has now become the sixth country to have nuclear-powered submarines armed with ballistic missiles, along with China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, the Times of India reported on Friday.
The successful launch of the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) also underscored India’s ambition to build its own military equipment.
In September, India debuted INS Vikrant, its first locally manufactured aircraft carrier, which has been hailed as a milestone in efforts to counter China’s increasing military clout in the region. At 262 meters (860 feet) in length, the INS Vikrant is one of the largest naval vessels in the world and was commissioned after 17 years of construction and testing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government also recently unveiled the first batch of Indian-made attack helicopters designed for use in high altitude locations such as the Himalayas, where its forces clashed with China in 2020.
India is one of the world’s largest arms importers and is trying to boost a domestic arms industry as the country remains heavily dependent on arms from Moscow, its largest and oldest military supplier for decades.
The Times of India reported that the INS Arihant is India’s first home-grown nuclear submarine and was launched in 2009. India has since developed two submarine-launched surface-to-surface missiles, one of which has a range of 3,500 km (2,174 miles). The Times reported.