India tests nuclear-capable Dhanush missile

Sun, 13 Dec 2009

New Delhi - India on Sunday test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile from a naval ship in the Bay of Bengal, news reports said. The Dhanush, which means archer's bow in Sanskrit, is a naval variant of the short-range Prithvi surface-to-surface missile.

The missile was launched from INS Subhadra, about 35 nautical miles offshore from the test range of Chandipur in India's eastern state of Orissa, IANS news agency reported citing defense sources.

The Dhanush is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads and can carry a payload of up to 500 kilograms.

It is a single stage missile with liquid propellant and can hit both sea and land targets within a range of 350 kilometers.

The Dhanush is part of a series of weapons being developed by India's state-run Defense Research and Development Organization under an integrated missile project launched in the early 1980s.