INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TEST FIRES NUCLEAR-CAPABLE DHANUSH

India has successfully test fired nuclear capable ballistic missile ‘ Dhanush ’ from a naval ship off Odhisha coast. The missile has a strike range of 350 kms. The surface-to-surface missile is a naval variant of the indigenously developed ‘Prithvi’ missile. The missile was test fired from a ship positioned near Paradip in the Bay of Bengal. The missile launch was part of a training exercise by the SFC of Indian Navy. The missile launch and its flight performance were monitored from DRDO telemetry and Radar facilities in the Odhisha coast. Dhanush’ is capable of carrying a payload of 500 kg and hitting both land and sea based targets. The Defence officials termed the test launch a complete success and said that all mission objectives were met during the trial.

The single-stage, liquid-propelled 'Dhanush' has already been inducted into the defence services; it is one of the five missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). The last trial was successfully tested on April 9, 2015.