India's first nuclear-powered submarine "INS ARIHANT"

Eleven years after India stunned the world by coming out of the nuclear closet, it's planning another leap that will be the next big milestone in its emergence as a credible nuclear weapons power.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will launch India's first nuclear-powered submarine, which is being built to fire nuclear-armed ballistic missiles.

Named INS Arihant (destroyer of enemies), the submarine will complete India's triad of nuclear weapons which can be fired from land, air and under the sea

The 5,000-ton vessel will be armed with 12 nuclear-armed K-15 ballistic missiles which have a 700 km range. The K-15s will later be replaced by 3,500 km-range K-X missiles

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