Agencies/New Delhi
India advanced its nuclear capability, with scientists announcing it is the fifth nation to conduct a successful test of an undersea ballistic missile.
The test by the Defence Research and Development Organisation of the nuclear-capable ballistic missile K-15, also called BO5, was conducted from an undisclosed undersea location in the Bay of Bengal, officials said.
The test helped the country take another step towards achieving the so-called nuclear triad - the ability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles from land, air and sea.
The Hindu newspaper reported the 10m tall Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) rose to an altitude of 20km and reached a distance of about 700km before splashing down into the seawaters near a pre-designated target point.
The officials said this was the first missile in the underwater category to have been fully developed by India, capable of being launched from a submarine. Only the United States, Russia, France and China have this capability.
“The medium range K-5 ballistic missile was test fired successfully from an underwater pontoon and all parameters of the test firing were met,” DRDO head V K Saraswat said.
“All the parameters of the vehicle were monitored by radar. All through the trajectory and terminal events have taken place exactly as expected,” the DRDO said in a statement.
Defence Minister A K Antony and Saraswat congratulated all the scientists for the successful launch. Other officials said about 10 trials of the missile had been carried out earlier and that Sunday’s test was the last for the K-5.
Saraswat said the missile is ready for deployment on various platforms, including the around 6,000-tonne indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant currently under development. Prior to K-5, India had only land and aerial-launched ballistic missile capability.