Arihant to fire K-15 very soon

As part of its weapons firing tests, the Arihant SSBN will go out to sea and very soon fire, submerged, the 750km range,solid fuel, K-15 SLBM, some two years after the last (from 20 meters) underwater pontoon launch off Vizag. Since the first test firing in 2008, 4-5 missiles have been launched from the underwater pontoon pad. Hopefully, DRDO will follow up the forthcoming one by firing other longer-range SLBMs in quick order. There’s just too long an interval between missile test-firings and hence delays in their induction. For instance, an Agni-5 test launch was slated for sometime in Oct-Nov 2015 but hasn’t taken place yet. In any case, the triggering of K-15 from the Indian SSBN will be a nice end-event, in a manner of speaking, to the IFR, though to make a much bigger strategic splash a China, for example, would have gone in for a more “in your face” timing of this launch to just around the time the fleet review got underway.

About Bharat Karnad

Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, he was Member of the (1st) National Security Advisory Board and the Nuclear Doctrine-drafting Group, and author, among other books of, 'Nuclear Weapons and Indian Security: The Realist Foundations of Strategy', 'India's Nuclear Policy' and most recently, 'Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)'. Educated at the University of California (undergrad and grad), he was Visiting Scholar at Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies, and Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington, DC.

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6 Responses to Arihant to fire K-15 very soon

andy says:

February 11, 2016 at 1:44 am

Respected Mr.karnad, What’s the reason for this pusillanimous attitude & lack of strategic culture in G.o.I?Cant be civilizational or India wouldn’t have produced men like Chanakya & empires like Maurya, Gupta.We still haven’t transferred the Brahmos to Vietnam leave alone nuclear arming them.

- Bharat Karnad says:
  
  February 11, 2016 at 6:38 am
  
  andy@ — reason? no political will or strategic vision.
  
satyaki says:

February 13, 2016 at 5:23 am

Bharat Sir,

Is the delay in Agni-V testing due to DRDO or due to political red lights ? Will the next Agni-V test be MIRVed ?

Bharat Karnad says:

February 13, 2016 at 9:42 am

Political. MIRVing test imminent, but also political.

- satyaki says:
  
  February 13, 2016 at 10:10 am
  
  MIRVing test on Agni V itself ? Or does that need Agni VI ? Are you sure such a test is imminent not immanent ? ISRO only recently tested the restart capability of the PSLV 4th stage…
  
Bharat Karnad says:

February 13, 2016 at 10:59 am

A-5.