“Deterrence from Depth: SSBNs in India’s Nuclear Strategy” by Anubhav Shankar Goswami is a timely and crucial study that addresses the vital question of the best deployment strategy for India’s burgeoning SSBN fleet.
With the second boat, INS Arighaat of the Arihant-class, now commissioned, the book’s aim to determine how to make these assets more survivable is of immediate scholarly relevance to those interested in the scholarship of sea-based nuclear deterrence (SBND). To achieve the book’s objectives , Anubhav conducts a thorough analysis of the evolution of SBND and carefully details the experiences of the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China with both open-ocean and bastion patrol strategies. Drawing on the comprehensive historical accounts of the world’s major nuclear powers, this book identifies key lessons to help shape India’s strategic choices for its submarine-based nuclear deterrent. It is the first major Indian study to address this specific challenge, making it an essential read for scholars and policymakers focused on the future of the country’s naval deterrent.
The book begins with a chapter that explores the rationale behind SSBN development , global stockpiles, and emerging interests from North Korea and Pakistan, alongside ASW challenges. Chapter 2 reviews the US Navy’s FBM program and Continuous At-Sea Deterrence (CASD) posture. Chapter 3 analyses Russia’s bastion strategy for protecting its noisier SSBNs. Chapters 4 and 5 detail British and French CASD approaches for small nuclear forces. Chapter 6 examines China’s evolving SSBN operations. Chapter 7 applies these insights to India’s sea-based deterrence needs, and Chapter 8 summarises key findings and strategic recommendations for the Indian Navy’s SSBN deployment. The logical and comparative structure of the book is commendable, and achieves its stated objectives reasonably well.
That said, while the comparative analysis is the book’s great strength, this same strength somewhat overshadows the core purpose of offering tailored recommendations for India. The analysis of India’s own submarine program is not nearly as thorough as the chapters on the other five nations, nor as evidence-based as that of the other countries. A more complete account of India’s specific path, including the milestones and setbacks of its Advanced Technology Vessel Project (ATVP), would have been invaluable. This would have grounded the final recommendations in solid evidence, creating a more balanced and policy-relevant work. In doing so, the book would have more powerfully bridged the gap between the lessons learned from others and their direct applicability to India, thereby more powerfully fulfilling the book’s ultimate aim.
Furthermore, the book’s framing of the central strategic choice could be more precise. Its stated goal is to evaluate deployment strategies—primarily open-ocean patrols versus bastions. Open-ocean patrol involves deploying submarines across vast, unpredictable waters to enhance stealth and survivability. In contrast, a bastion strategy restricts SSBNs to heavily defended coastal areas or enclaves, prioritising protection through layered defences but potentially reducing stealth due to geographic predictability and limited manoeuvre space. Strictly speaking, the question of ‘how to execute a deterrence patrol’ is answered by choosing one of these two operational models. The book links both strategies to the possibility of Continuous At-Sea Deterrence (CASD). However, whether to maintain one or two boats on patrol continuously is not, in itself, a deployment strategy. While CASD enhances the credibility of either strategy, it is a distinct, higher-level decision about force posture. The analysis could have been sharpened by more clearly separating the method of deployment (bastion/open-ocean) from the level of readiness (CASD), as the former is the core focus of the book’s comparative study.
Building on this, CASD is not a deployment strategy but a nuclear doctrine and force-level question with immense strategic and financial implications. The book’s primary investigation into whether a bastion or open-ocean model is better suited for India based on geography, threat perception, and the experiences of others is its most significant contribution. The question of CASD, while critically important for credibility, is a related but separate debate. A recommendation on deployment strategy can be made independently of a final decision on CASD. By framing the discussion in a way that sometimes conflates these issues, the book slightly dilutes its central analytical task, which is to provide a clear-eyed assessment of the operational pros and cons of the two principal methods of SSBN deployment for India’s unique circumstances.
Lastly, a viable deployment strategy is impossible without a robust, sovereign Nuclear Command and Control (NC2) system. The author does a commendable job of demystifying India’s underwater nuclear command structure, a subject typically shrouded in secrecy. Goswami effectively captures the delicate balance India maintains between deterrence credibility and strict political oversight. It is worth noting, however, that the analysis appears to be based on data that is at least six years old. While the classified nature of the topic makes these understandable, future editions would greatly benefit from more current information, which would enhance the book’s overall impact and utility.
In conclusion, despite these critiques, “Deterrence from Depth” is an excellent and vital effort. It successfully meets its core objective of examining global SBND practices to inform India’s choices for its “silent guardians”. By providing a rich, comparative analysis, Goswami has significantly advanced the public debate on a subject of immense importance to strategic studies. The book is an indispensable resource for anyone involved in studying India’s nuclear policy and maritime strategy, serving as a foundational text for the critical decisions that lie ahead.
This is a review of Anubhav Shankar Goswami’s Deterrence from Depth: SSBNs in India’s Nuclear Strategy (New Delhi: Knowledge World, 2025). ISBN: 9788198083111
Pratyush Sarma is a PhD researcher at the School of Politics and International Relations, Research School of Social Science, Australian National University, Canberra. His research is on ‘Strategic dimensions of election campaigns in the Indian context’, with a specific focus on the behaviour of political parties during election campaigns. Beyond his doctoral work, Pratyush examines international security and the intersection of global power dynamics and sport, expanding his academic engagement with themes of power, strategy, and global governance.
This review is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.
