The Indian Navy’s first nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant is reportedly undergoing additional sea acceptance tests.
The submarine was launched in 2009 and declared operational in February 2016.
“INS Arihant is undergoing sea acceptance trials as it had already passed several deep sea diving drills. It will be commissioned after completing all the sea trials”, the Flag Officer-Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice-Admiral HCS Bisht was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Although the submarine was declared operational in February, further sea trials started in March. During the recent trials, Arihant tested its capability of firing ballistic missiles.
According to local media reports, the submarine performed two tests of the Indian indigenously-built K-4 missile in March 2016. The first one was a dummy missile while the second was a live missile launched while the submarine was submerged at a depth of 20 meters.
The K-4 missile the submarine fired is an intermediate-range submarine-launched ballistic missile developed by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation.