Ship-Launched Ballistic Missile Dhanush test fired

[RISING SUN]

India is the only country in the world that has a ballistic missile that is surface ship based. Congrats.

We use it for testing purpose as we use our patrol vessels for this task, not frontline warships. In our language we call it a JUGAAD. Whether it was moon mission mars mission Indian railways, signaling system, in every field we use it and it is effective and less costly for us. Thank you.

 

[GR!FF!N]

I don't know why I feel that Dhanush's ASBM role isn't due to its capability to hit a ship precisely but as it is capable of carrying nuclear weapons,it can reach close enough of a ship and with nuke,disable/destroy it,just like R-27K.

it is my suspicion that some Indian Missiles are designed to carry low yield nukes(in Dhanush's case,high yield one) for various purpose.Look at Akash missile,Nuclear Capable,just to perform makeshift role of Sprint Missile,just in Akash's case,it is quite slower.

 

[RISING SUN]

IS there any Anti ship capability in Dhanush or it is some mistake in reporting?

That is correct. It can target medium to big size boats from standoff range.

 

[SQ8]

Neither do I find why it's required but , Ship-Based Attack on Hollywood | Missile ThreatMissile Threat

Why was Shaheen from Type 21 abandoned ??

Economics and cost effectiveness. The range available on the Shaheen at the time was not considered sufficient which is why the Ship based idea came up. However, newer developments were on route by the time the system would be operational(plan begun in 1994-5.. improved range ready by 1999) which made the system redundant.
In addition, the limited amount of missiles carried(2-3 at max) along with the difficult reloading process on a seaborne platform, and the loss of the helideck on the ship just was not worth it.

 

[SQ8]

Generally it is true, the only exception has been the K15 which was tested under the cover of dhanush test.
Also I think Dhanush is just a tech demo program with very little actual utility possible, It gives the Navy a place holder for ballistic missile and a third leg of deterrent even if in name only.

Considering that you talking about the Dhanush as the name for the launch platform, perhaps the cover was unintended.

 

[RISING SUN]

@GORKHALI

Can you please explain it a bit?

How a prithvi Variant can be used as an anti ship weapon? Does it fly like a cruise in terminal mode and having a sicker or it works like DF 21 of china and attack directly on ship in Ballistic Mode.

If Dhanush posses that capability then It is a very great force multiplier and can form a base of Indian anti aircraft weapon under development.

No it doesn't work like cruise missile. It acts like ASBM as it is one.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

I would hardly think it would be useful in that sense. That liquid fuel will always hold it back from a quick response system. I wonder why this system has been persisted with unless the idea was to test the launching of a Ballistic missile from a ship and not the Dhanush itself?

No, no. that reference to a "Carrier Killer Missile" was only because that has been "the flavor of the season" for quite a while here on pdf; with everybody trying to out-do the next guy (and his dog) about possessing one of those toys.

Hard to say what really that test was for.... likely not the missile itself! Is there much left to test in it?
But then; how about wanting to test some Missile Tracking gizmos or a Swordfish Radar iteration?

 

[Capt.Popeye]

I doubt there is any sneakyness involved in this. If the history of Indian R&D is testament then there is a general tendency to reveal much more than is needed just to play out on achievements.. which leads to the more calmer and smarter people in these matters banging their heads.

Even wrt that; there is really a 'method to that madness'.......

 

[RISING SUN]

So.........is the Dhanush a 'carrier-killer' too?

Not necessarily.

 

[Didact]

Again, I am not much of a fan of Ship launched ballistic missiles. There is little precedent for it... especially when a system like the Arihant is coming online .

It is certainly possible, and very much feasible that the Dhanush launches act as cover for the K-15 tests, especially given the secrecy over that program. Whether that was the objective of this mission too would be an exercise in pointless speculation though.

But as far as the operational usefulness of the program is concerned, I have my set of doubts, more so given the fact that the Dhanush is launched from a patrol vessel. It would appear that the missile launch from the floating platform is used to simulate SLBMs launches for Long range radar track, and potentially ABM testing.

These might sound moot now, given the existence of K series missiles, but nonetheless these relatively primitive missiles would provide a good understanding of detecting sea based BM launches for ABM testing.

I don't know why I feel that Dhanush's ASBM role isn't due to its capability to hit a ship precisely but as it is capable of carrying nuclear weapons,it can reach close enough of a ship and with nuke,disable/destroy it,just like R-27K.

it is my suspicion that some Indian Missiles are designed to carry low yield nukes(in Dhanush's case,high yield one) for various purpose.Look at Akash missile,Nuclear Capable,just to perform makeshift role of Sprint Missile,just in Akash's case,it is quite slower.

It's very unlikely the IN has gone down the path of ASBM as of yet, primarily because the required ISR infrastructure for effective ASBM operations simply do not exist for the IN. Tracking a ship moving at +20 Knots at standoff distance is no child's play.

A ship's Radar has only about 50 mile range for detecting surface ships. You have to rely on air based ISR assets for sustained longer ranged tracking, aka AWE&CS or Drones. Satellites, though good at spotting ships, cannot provide a sustained track of a ship by virtue of their very high speed of revolution around earth.

 

[SQ8]

No, no. that reference to a "Carrier Killer Missile" was only because that has been "the flavor of the season" for quite a while here on pdf; with everybody trying to out-do the next guy (and his dog) about possessing one of those toys.

Hard to say what really that test was for.... likely not the missile itself! Is there much left to test in it?
But then; how about wanting to test some Missile Tracking gizmos or a Swordfish Radar iteration?

I was not even paying attention to killing of carriers. Rather the need to base these weapons on a surface combatant in the first place. One possibility could be that some fellow in the IN higher ups wanted to test a particular radar system on a future surface combatant on what may be a Chinese sub/surface launched anti-ship SRBM.. but that is just my opinion.

Even wrt that; there is really a 'method to that madness'.......

Well, there are methods.. and then there are always those folks who cant stop talking and the rest of the department tried to elbow them furiously screaming "Shut the hell UP!" inside their heads.

 

[GR!FF!N]

It's very unlikely the IN has gone down the path of ASBM as of yet, primarily because the required ISR infrastructure for effective ASBM operations simply do not exist for the IN. Tracking a ship moving at +20 Knots at standoff distance is no child's play.

A ship's Radar has only about 50 mile range for detecting surface ships. You have to rely on air based ISR assets for sustained longer ranged tracking, aka AWE&CS or Drones. Satellites, though good at spotting ships, cannot provide a sustained track of a ship by virtue of their very high speed of revolution around earth.

it is not needed my friend,in case of you are launching a nuclear missiles.get the current location,and fire..if high yield nuke,then it'd destroy a ship even if it lands quite a far.

as you can see,Dhanush was developed quite a long time ago.though in 2012,it was first time publicly tested.

 

[SQ8]

It is certainly possible, and very much feasible that the Dhanush launches act as cover for the K-15 tests, especially given the secrecy over that program. Whether that was the objective of this mission too would be an exercise in pointless speculation though.

But as far as the operational usefulness of the program is concerned, I have my set of doubts, more so given the fact that the Dhanush is launched from a patrol vessel. It would appear that the missile launch from the floating platform is used to simulate SLBMs launches for Long range radar track, and potentially ABM testing.

These might sound moot now, given the existence of K series missiles, but nonetheless these relatively primitive missiles would provide a good understanding of detecting sea based BM launches for ABM testing.

My thoughts exactly. A third simpler avenue is that the system may itself be a test for basing a ABM(also based on the prithvi) on a ship? Although this is a long shot as so far India has no current or future large scale threat from BMs coming from the sea.

 

[SQ8]

as you can see,Dhanush was developed quite a long time ago.though in 2012,it was first time publicly tested.

Most people wont buy this.. but the teams working on the sea launch BM(or similar projects) from both India and Pakistan sat across each other in a drawing room of a arms dealer/fixer in Dubai back in the sanction days. Each looking at each other wondering what the other was here for?

 

[Luca1]

LoL - Like the indian sub that sank in harbor = without a shot fired in anger.

A pakistani sub can be sank if an Indian sub anchor next to it in the harbor and explode. Maybe this should be India's new sub warfare strategy.