India tests nuclear-capable missile Dhanush

India successfully tested a nuclear-capable ballistic missile ‘Dhanush’, a naval variant of Prithvi with 350 km range, from a warship in Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast.

The single-stage ship-based missile was flight-tested at around 11.31 am from INS Subhadra 35 km offshore from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near here, defence officials said.

Describing the trial as successful, ITR director S P Dash said, “It has met all the mission objectives and all the events occurred as expected and also monitored by the range of sensors. It was a textbook launch and a fantastic mission accomplished.”

‘Dhanush’ has a payload capacity of 500 kg and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads.

It can hit both sea and shore-based targets.The missile, which has liquid propellant, is the naval version of India’s indigenously developed surface-to-surface ‘Prithvi’ missile system, the officials said.