Nuclear-capable Dhanush successfully test-fired

Launched from a ship, the missile met mission objectives in a flawless performance

A day after the launch of Prithvi-II, India successfully test-fired nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile for its full range of 350 km from a naval ship off Odisha on Friday.

The surface-to-surface Dhanush, a naval variant of Prithvi-II, was fired by the personnel of Strategic Forces Command (SFC) at 11.25 a.m. as part of regular training. The missile rose from the ship and splashed down near the pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal with an accuracy of less than 20 metres. All the mission objectives were met in a flawless performance, official sources said.

All the radars, telemetry stations and electro-optical systems tracked and evaluated the performance of the missile in real time.

The single-stage, liquid propelled Dhanush has already been inducted into the armed services and is one of the five missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). For Friday’s launch the missile was picked up randomly from the production lot and the entire operation was carried out by personnel of the SFC, which is tasked with handling strategic systems.

Dhanush can carry conventional or nuclear payload of 500-1,000 kg and hit both land and sea-based targets.

Although Dhanush was originally planned to be launched within a short time after test-firing of Prithvi-II on Thursday as was done on previous occasions, the mission was postponed to Friday due to rough sea conditions.