The Indian Ministry of Defence has successfully test-fired its domestically-built nuclear-capable ballistic missile Dhanush, from a naval ship off the Odisha coast.
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Press Trust of India cited Integrated Test Range director Prasad as saying that the missile was successfully launched by the strategic force command (SFC) of the Indian defence force from a naval ship.
During the testing, conducted as part of a navy training exercise, the surface-to-surface missile was test fired from a location at the Bay of Bengal, while the DRDO provided all logistic support to track the missile’s flight path, according to The New Indian Express.
The missile, which has a launch weight about 4.4t, has validated its mission parametres such as elevation, trajectory, azimuth, flight path and stage separation as part of the trials.
Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), single-stage, liquid propelled Dhanush is currently in service with the armed services.
Prasad told The New Indian Express that the test was 100% successful with all the events, monitored by the range sensors, occurred as anticipated.
"It was a user trial and has met all the mission objectives," Prasad added.
Capable of carrying a conventional as well as nuclear payload of 500 to 1,000kg, the 8.53m-long Dhanush missile is a naval variant of India’s indigenously developed Prithvi missile.
"The trial was conducted by the SFC of the Indian defence force in co-operation with DRDO," a defence official said.
In addition to using it as an anti-ship weapon, the missile can be deployed for destroying land targets, depending on the range.
