Platform profile · India · Nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine · Indian Navy (Strategic Forces Command)
INS Aridhaman was reported inducted on 2026-04-03, but the reporting states that official confirmation was absent.
The Indian Express reported that INS Aridhaman, the third Arihant-class SSBN, was inducted at Visakhapatnam on 3 April 2026, while explicitly noting that there was no official confirmation. Hindustan Times had reported a 3,500 km K-4 launch from INS Arighaat in the Bay of Bengal on 23 December 2025, with further firings still required before induction. The latest officially confirmed class expansion remains the commissioning of INS Arighaat at Visakhapatnam on 29 August 2024. The class now spans the smaller Arihant and Arighaat design and the reported larger, eight-tube Aridhaman configuration, so public specifications are variant-dependent. It matters because a larger, more available SSBN force makes India's sea-based nuclear second-strike capability harder to neutralise.
Updated 3 Apr 2026
Verified figures
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Official designation | Strategic Strike Nuclear Submarine (SSBN) ↗ |
| Reported operational boats (April 2026) | 3: INS Arihant, INS Arighaat and INS Aridhaman; the third boat was not officially confirmed in the cited report ↗ |
| INS Arihant displacement | 6,000 tonnes ↗ |
| INS Arihant length | 110 m ↗ |
| INS Arihant breadth | 11 m ↗ |
| INS Arihant and INS Arighaat reactor output | Reported 83 MW pressurised light-water reactor ↗ |
| INS Arihant K-15 load | 12 Sagarika K-15 SLBMs ↗ |
| K-15 reported range | 750-800 km ↗ |
| Arihant and Arighaat K-4 capacity | Up to 4 K-4 missiles; each launch tube can hold one K-4 or three K-15 missiles ↗ |
| K-4 reported range | 3,500 km ↗ |
| INS Aridhaman reported displacement | 7,000 tonnes ↗ |
| INS Aridhaman reported missile capacity | 8 vertical launch tubes; either 8 K-4 or up to 24 K-15 missiles ↗ |
Spec sources: pib.gov.in ↗ · indianexpress.com ↗ · indianexpress.com ↗ · armscontrol.org ↗
Changelog
The Indian Express reported that India inducted the 7,000-tonne INS Aridhaman at Visakhapatnam; the report explicitly said there was no official word confirming the commissioning.
Hindustan Times reported that INS Arighaat launched a 3,500 km K-4 SLBM in the Bay of Bengal and that the missile still required a few more firings before induction.
The Indian Express, citing people familiar with the matter, reported the first submarine launch of the roughly 3,500 km K-4 from INS Arighaat off Visakhapatnam.
The Indian Navy commissioned the second Arihant-class submarine, INS Arighaat, at Visakhapatnam.
INS Arihant launched an SLBM to a predetermined range in the Bay of Bengal, and the Ministry of Defence said all operational and technological parameters were validated.
Indian media reported the launch (hull float-out) of the third Arihant-class submarine at the Ship Building Centre, Visakhapatnam; neither the Ministry of Defence nor the Navy confirmed it.
The Prime Minister received INS Arihant's crew after its first deterrence patrol, which the government said completed India's survivable nuclear triad.
INS Arihant's onboard nuclear propulsion reactor achieved criticality.
India launched its first indigenously built nuclear-propelled strategic submarine, Arihant, at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam.
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