Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the K-4 will be an intermediate range submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
The K-4, developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with a range capability of 3,500 km, will be an intermediate range submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
Once operational, it will arm India's first indigenously-built ballistic missile submarine the INS Arihant, completing India's nuclear triad of delivery vehicles.
While technical details are hard to ascertain given the levels of secrecy involved, the K-4, which underwent its last test in March 2016, reportedly has a length of 12 metres, a diameter of 0.8 metres, and can carry a payload of up to two tonnes.
The missile is powered by solid rocket propellants and is highly accurate with a near-zero circular error probability according to the DRDO.
The INS Arihant will have the capability to carry four K-4 missiles, and the follow-on SSBNs that are planned will have the capacity to carry eight K-4 or such SLBMs each. Future submarines will reportedly be larger and will carry missiles of longer range like the S-5, which will have a reach of over 5,000 kilometres.
New Delhi has an officially adopted posture of no first use and assured retaliation.
In theory, a sea-based nuclear deterrent is invulnerable once undersea because it can hide and is not trackable or targetable by adversaries, unlike ground-based systems. This is especially important to India, as its land-based systems will have little reaction time given the proximity of Pakistani and Chinese nuclear weapons.
Pakistan has over the last few years pursued strategic parity with India's growing underwater nuclear capabilities in an attempt to negate its conventional superiority.
Islamabad has claimed second-strike capability. Pakistan is currently in the process of purchasing eight Yuan-class diesel-electric submarines from Beijing. Added to the existing three French Agosta-90B/Khalid and two Agosta-70 submarines of the Pakistan Navy and the ambiguity of deploying nuclear-armed cruise missiles on conventional submarines will be highly destabilising.
This would make prosecution of targets vis-à-vis Pakistan extremely difficult for the Indian Navy in the years to come.
China, on the other hand, has an operationalised at-sea nuclear deterrent and had sent a Jin-class SSBN out on its first deterrent patrol, according to press reports, in December 2015.
India's eventual induction of SSBNs in numbers armed with K-4 missiles is unlikely to change or draw any reaction from Beijing apart from an increase of probes by the Chinese Navy in the Bay of Bengal region to track and monitor patterns in India's SSBN deployments.
Historically, Indian nuclear warheads and delivery systems are unmated and housed at different locations.
In a stark contrast and a first, deployment of an undersea launch capability will require weaponisation of the K-4 and represents a shift from civilian control of weapons to military control.
India's latest maritime strategy document released in 2015, Enduring Secure Seas: Indian Maritime Security Strategy, states "Cold War experience has shown that reduction in the first-strike and increase in the second-strike (retaliatory) component considerably stabilises and strengthens deterrence."
With the induction and deployment of the K-4 in the coming years, India will field a comprehensive spectrum of options which fulfil India's deterrence and strategic needs.
This commentary originally appeared in The Quint.
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
Pushan was Head of Forums at ORF. He was also the coordinator of Raisina Dialogue. His research interests are Indian foreign and security policies.
Read More +
PREV
