Navy Scripts History: Night Trial of Dhanush Successful
By Hemant Kumar Rout
Published: 15th November 2014 06:08 AM
Last Updated: 15th November 2014 06:08 AM
Email0
BALASORE : Indian Navy on Friday created history after successfully test-firing nuke-capable surface-to surface nuclear capable ship-launched ballistic missile ‘Dhanush’ from a Naval warship anchored in Bay of Bengal for the first time during night.
The trial termed as ‘training exercise’ was conducted at about 7.40 pm from an undisclosed location. The test, which came hours after the successful flight testing of Prithvi-II missile by Army personnel from Chandipur-based test facility, was carried out by Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Navy.
Defence sources said Dhanush was test fired during its final operational configuration from ‘INS Subhadra’ warship anchored about 45 km offshore Puri and Paradip. Another warship provided essential support for the test. It was the 11th test of the anti-ship missile.
Director of Integrated Test Range (ITR) MVKV Prasad said, “The missile met all mission objectives. All events occurred as expected and it was a text book launch. The missile reached the designated target with high precision,” he said.
The entire flight path of the missile was smooth in accordance with pre-decided coordinates. ‘Dhanush’, the indigenously developed Naval version of the ‘Prithvi’ short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) has a striking range upto 350 km and can carry single warhead, conventional or nuclear, up to 500 kg.
Developed by the DRDO under its ambitious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), the missile is about 8.53 metre in length and 0.9 metre in diameter besides its launch weight of about 4.4 tonnes.
This single stage missile uses liquid propellant and can be used as an anti-ship weapon as well as for destroying land targets depending on the range.
The missile maintained its intended trajectory before plunging down the sea. The test launch was tracked from its take-off to impact point through an integrated network of sophisticated radars and electro-optic instruments for data analysis.
A cautionary notice was issued to aviators and mariners to keep away from the area of splashdown in the sea. Dhanush is under production after its successful completion of developmental trials and it has already been inducted into the Armed Forces.
Earlier in the day, Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of Indian Army successfully test-fired surface-to-surface nuclear capable short range ballistic missile (SRBM) Prithvi-II from a defence base off the Odisha coast.
Mounted on Mobile Tatra Transporter-erector Launcher (MTL), the indigenously developed Prithvi-II was launched in salvo mode from the launching complex III at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur-on-Sea at 10.40 am.
A Naval ship positioned at the target, tracked and monitored the missile hitting the target accurately.
A defence official said the weapon system achieved single digit accuracy reaching close to zero circular error probability (CEP).
The missile, which also features measures to deceive anti-ballistic missiles, has been inducted into the Strategic Forces Command in 2003. Prithvi-II has the capability to carry 500 kg of warhead.
