India's answer to China's JL 3: Know all about the faster, deadlier and stealthier K-6 hypersonic missile

India is ramping up its efforts to counter China's growing naval presence and expansionist ambitions in the Indian Ocean Region. It is actively countering this by increasing its naval capability. At the centre of the effort is the K-6 nuclear-capable missile, which is designed to stand toe-to-toe with China's intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) JL-3.

K-6: India's deep-sea deterrent

Being developed by India's premier R&D institute, Defence Research and Development Organisation, K-6 is still under construction in its Advanced Naval Systems Laboratory in Hyderabad, and information is classified. Some details are revealed through media leaks, which suggest that K-6 will have a range of 8,000 km or more, it will be hypersonic, and multiple independent targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRV) capabled, which allows multiple nuclear warheads to be sent to their independent targets from the bus at different speeds and different trajectories. This is a major technological upgrade in the K-series. It is capable of carrying conventional as well as nuclear warheads and will be guided by advanced inertial and satellite-based systems. It will be launched with Arihant-class nuclear submarines, possibly future S5-class SSBNs, with a velocity going as high as Mach 7. India already has other K-series warheads, which are equipped in the Arihant-class nuclear submarine. However, K-6 significantly increases speed.

How does it fare with JL-3?

This is the dragon's long arm with a range of 12000 km, allowing it to reach currently as far as the United States, from within its continental waters. It has a payload capacity of up to 3 megatons. It is launched from the Type 096 and upgraded Type 094A SSBNs.

Similar to the K-6, the JL-3 is MIRV-capable, nuclear-armed, and guided by advanced inertial and satellite-based systems. It has been in use since 2020. It is estimated to travel at a speed of over Mach 20, making it extremely difficult to intercept.

In comparison to the K-6, JL3 outpaces it; however, the increased range of K-6 puts it well within the range of strategic targets of the patrol zones in the Bay of Bengal or the southern Indian Ocean.

In terms of pure numbers, JL-3 is much superior to K-6. However, K-6 establishes some sort of deterrence for the Chinese navy, as it puts all of them within Indian range. However, both of them are working with their submarines to perfect their stealth technology, investing in deep-sea sonar-evading designs and endurance building using air-independent propulsion and possibly nuclear-powered upgrades.