India Gets a Boomer
By Congratulations of a sort are due India, which just launched its first nuclear ballistic missile submarine. The boat was built with Russian assistance, which makes sense because it kind of looks like a Russian sub. Arihant is the first of three expected boats, which is a bit light for a sea-based nuclear deterrent; India must be expecting to build a second class with the experience gained from these subs. The wikipedia page suggests that the Arihants will carry two different kinds of SLBM, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. One of the SLBM types appears to have been successfully tested, which puts the Arihant ahead of the latest Russian SSBN…