Indian Missile News And Discussion

[Arun_S]

[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-5333773,prtpage-1.cms"]Dhanush blips out Agni failures: ToI[/url]

TNN 13 December 2009, 10:37pm IST



BALASORE: The navy on Sunday successfully testfired the nuclear-capable Dhanush missile from a warship off the Orissa coast. The success of the surface-to surface missile test has come as a big relief for the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), which was smarting from the twin failures of tests on Agni-II this year.



The Dhanush trial termed as "trainer exercise" was conducted around 11:31 am. Defence sources said the missile was test-fired from INS Subhadra that was anchored about 35 km offshore from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, during its final operational configuration. Another warship, INS Rajput, provided essential support for the test. It was the sixth test of the anti-ship missile.



"All the operations for the launch were carried out by naval personnel. It has met all the mission objectives. All the events occurred as expected and was also monitored by the range sensors. It was a textbook launch and achieved fantastic mission accomplished," ITR director S P Dash said.



Dhanush, the indigenously developed naval version of the Prithvi short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), has a strike range up to 350 km and can carry 500 kg of conventional or nuclear warhead.



Developed by the DRDO under its ambitious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), the missile is about 8.53 metres in length and 0.9 metre in diameter besides its launch weight about 4.4 tonnes. This single stage missile uses liquid propellant. It can be used as an anti-ship weapon as well as for destroying land targets depending on the range.



"During the Sunday's test which was aimed to study the control and guidance system of the missile and its other parameters besides providing training to the user, the missile maintained its intended trajectory before dropping into the sea," a source said. "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," he added.



The defence ministry had made elaborate preparations for the testfiring of Dhanush. A cautionary notice was issued to aviators and mariners to keep away from the area of splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.



V K Saraswat, scientific advisor to the defence minister, and the DRDO's district general and secretary were on-board the ship during the mission.