Nuclear capable, Dhanush test fired successfully

With the successful flight testing of nuclear-capable surface-to surface ballistic missle 'Dhanush', the Indian Navy today created another milestone in its on-going strategic programme.

The surface-to-surface Dhanush is a naval variant of India's indigenously developed 'Prithvi' missile.

The missile was fired from a naval warship off the Odisha coast.

The trial termed 'training exercise' was conducted at about 11.10 am from an undisclosed location in the Bay of Bengal in the vicinity of Paradeep and Gopalpur.

While the test was carried out by Navy personnel, the DRDO provided the logistic support to track its flight path.

According to The New Indian Express which quoted defence sources, the ship-launched Dhanush missile was test fired during its final operational configuration from a warship anchored around 45 km offshore Puri, while other essential supports for the test were  provided by another ship. This came as the 10th test of the anti-ship missile.

Speaking to the newspaper, director of Integrated Test Range (ITR) MVKV Prasad described the mission as fantastic.

Prasad added, it was a user trial and had met all the mission objectives. He said all events occurred as expected and were monitored by the range sensors and the test was 100 per cent successful.

'Dhanush', the indigenously developed naval version of the 'Prithvi' ballistic missile has a striking range upto 350km and is capable of carrying a single warhead, conventional or nuclear up to 500 kg.

The single-stage missile, developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), has already been inducted into the armed services and is among the five missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).