Arihant - class submarine The " Arihant " class ( Sanskrit , for " Slayer of Enemies " ) is a class of nuclear - powered ballistic missile submarine s being built for the Indian Navy . The lead vessel of the class , , has been launched for sea trails by August 2013 . Four vessels are being built and are expected to be in commission by 2023 . The " Arihant " - class vessels are India ' s first indigenously designed and built nuclear submarine . They were developed under the US $ 2 . 9 billion " Advanced Technology Vessel " ( ATV ) project to design and build nuclear - powered submarines . INS " Arihant " is the first ballistic missile submarine to have been built outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . Description . The " Arihant " class submarines will be ballistic missile submarine s that are nuclear powered . They are being built under the US $ 2 . 9 billion " Advanced Technology Vessel " ( ATV ) project to design and build nuclear - powered submarines . They will be the first nuclear submarines designed and built by India . INS " Arihant " is the first nuclear submarine built outside the five permanent members of the security council . The " Arihant " - class submarines will have a length of overall , a beam of and a draft of . They displace and have a diving depth of . The complement is about 95 , including officers and sailors . The boats will have one seven blade propeller powered by an pressurized water reactor . They can achieve a maximum speed of when on surface and when submerged . The submarines have four launch tubes in their hump . They can carry up to 12 K - 15 Sagarika missiles with one warhead each ( with a range of ) , or 4 of the under - development K - 4 missiles ( with a range of ) . The " Arihant " - class submarines are reported to be similar to the Akula I class submarines of Russia . The Indian Navy will have the opportunity to train on INS " Chakra " , an Akula - class submarine , which the Indian Navy leased from Russia in 2012 . The lead boat of the class , INS " Arihant " is fitted with a combination of two sonar systems – USHUS and Panchendriya . USHUS is a state - of - the - art sonar meant for Kilo - class submarine s . Panchendriya is a unified submarine sonar and tactical control system , which includes all types of sonar ( passive , surveillance , ranging , intercept and active ) . It also features an underwater communications system . The hull features twin flank - array sonars and Rafael broadband expendable anti - torpedo countermeasures . The UPA government ' s report card carried an image of the lead vessel , which provided the first public glimpse of the completed submarine . History . India continued to harbour deep ambivalence about nuclear weapons and did not accord a priority to their production until the 1970s . In December 1971 , during the Indo - Pakistani War of 1971 , the U . S . President Richard Nixon sent a carrier battle group named Task Force 74 , led by the nuclear - powered , into the Bay of Bengal in an attempt to intimidate India . In response , the Soviet Union sent a submarine armed with nuclear missiles from Vladivostok to trail the US task force . The salutary effect of the Soviet response demonstrated the deterrent significance of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile submarines to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi . Following the 1974 Smiling Buddha nuclear test , the Director of Marine Engineering ( DME ) at Naval Headquarters ( NHQ ) initiated a technical feasibility study for an indigenous nuclear propulsion system ( Project 932 ) . The Indian Navy ' s " Advanced Technology Vessel " ( ATV ) Project to design and construct a nuclear submarine took shape in the 1990s . First confirmation of the project came in 1998 from then Defence Minister , George Fernandes . The initial intent of the project was to design nuclear - powered fast attack submarines , though following nuclear tests conducted by India in 1998 at Pokhran Test Range and the Indian pledge of no first use , the project was re - aligned towards the design of a ballistic missile submarine in order to complete India ' s nuclear triad . The ATV project overcame many challenges , the primary one being the design and miniaturization of the nuclear reactor . The lead vessel was first floated from its dry dock at a symbolic launch ceremony on 26 July 2009 . Development . The " Arihant " - class submarines are powered by an 83 MW pressurized water reactor ( PWR ) with highly enriched uranium fuel . The miniaturized naval version of the reactor was designed and built by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre ( BARC ) at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research ( IGCAR ) in Kalpakkam . A land - based prototype of the marine PWR was first built at Kalpakkam . It included a 42 - meter section of the submarine ' s pressure hull containing the shielding tank with water and the reactor , a control room , as well as an auxiliary control room for monitoring safety parameters . The prototype reactor became critical on 11 November 2003 and was declared operational on 22 September 2006 . Successful operation of the prototype for three years yielded the data and the confidence that enabled the production version of the reactor for " Arihant " . The reactor consists of 13 fuel assemblies each having 348 fuel pins . Several companies supplied components of the reactor . High grade steel supplied by Heavy Engineering Corporation , Ranchi was used to build the reactor vessel . The steam generator was provided by BHEL ; and Audco India , Chennai built the pressure valves . Separately , infrastructure for testing the reactor subsystems was set up at the " Machinery Test Centre " in Visakhapatnam . Facilities for loading and replacing the fuel cores of the naval reactors in berthed submarines were also established at the " Ship Building Centre " . Once the design was finalized , detailed engineering was implemented at Larsen and Toubro ' s submarine design centre at their Hazira shipbuilding facility using 3D modelling and product data management software . Tata Power SED built the control systems for the submarine . The steam turbines and associated systems integrated with the PWR were supplied by Walchandnagar Industries . The lead vessel underwent a long and extensive process of testing after its " launch " in July 2009 . Every sub - system of the propulsion and power systems on board the submarine was repeatedly tested with high - pressure steam trials of all pipelines . This was followed by harbour - acceptance trials that included submersion tests by flooding its ballast tanks and controlled dives to limited depths . Data gathered from her acceptance trials is expected to aid the development of nuclear submarines to follow . INS " Arihant " reactor went critical for the first time on August 10 , 2013 , with harbour acceptance trials completed and sea trials expected later that year . Ships in class . India has decided to construct more nuclear - powered " Arihant " - class submarines and three more submarines of this class are under construction ( dubbed S - 2 , S - 3 and S - 4 ) , . One submarine is being constructed at Visakhapatnam and two at Vadodara . India plans to built six of these submarines in long term . The first four vessels are all expected to be in commission by 2023 . As of 2013 , the lead boat " Arihant " is undergoing sea - trails with its nuclear reactor active .