WORLD BRIEFING / INDIA
India launched the first nuclear-powered submarine built on its soil, asserting itself as a world power by joining just five other countries that design and construct such vessels.
The 367-foot-long submarine, named Arihant, or “Destroyer of Enemies,” was sent for sea trials at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
It will be capable of launching nuclear weapons, said Rahul Bedi, an analyst with Jane’s Defense Weekly.
That would complete India’s strategic triad for nuclear weapons -- giving it the ability to deliver them from the air, ground-based mobile platforms and the sea, he said.
Singh called the project a “historic milestone in the country’s defense preparedness.”
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