Indigenous nuke sub to undergo missile firing tests

India's first <g data-gr-id="23">indegenously</g> developed nuclear submarine Arihant, which has "successfully" completed the sea trials held so far, will undergo its maiden missile firing test this month, top defence sources said.

The aim is to <g data-gr-id="19">handover</g> the submarine to the Indian Navy during the International Fleet Review scheduled in February next year in Vishakapatnam, they said.

"The tests held so far has been successful. We will, this month, fire Nirbhay missile from the submarine which will be followed by <g data-gr-id="27">firing of</g> another type of missile," the sources said.

While Nirbhay is a 1000-km-long range subsonic cruise missile, the next missile would be India's first <g data-gr-id="66">Submarine Launched</g> Ballistic Missile (SLBM), which has a range of about 700 <g data-gr-id="21">kms</g>.

These would be followed by another few rounds of tests.

India plans to build at least two more Arihant-class submarines. India had started building Arihant in the 1990s under <g data-gr-id="62">it's</g> highly secretive ATV (Advanced Technology Vessel) programme.

Though Arihant was initially supposed to be a fast-attack submarine, the project was realigned to make it a ballistic missile submarine following the nuclear test conducted by India in 1998.