The test fire of the 3,500-kilometre range ballistic missile known as K-4 from a nuclear capable submarine on 19 Jan has been reported as successful.
The missile developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO will be equipped on indigenous Indian Navy Ship Arihant, which is nuclear-powered submarine.
A DRDO release has said these missiles, once inducted, will be the mainstay of the Arihant class of indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarines (SSBN) and will give India the stand off capability to launch nuclear weapons submerged in Indian waters.
The Indian Navy Ship Arihant, the first and only operational SSBN, is currently armed with K-15 Sagarika missiles with a range of 750 km.
The DRDO test fire took place from a submerged pontoon off the Visakhapatnam coast. Sources said that the test met the desired parameters.
“A pontoon simulates the situation of a launch from a submarine,” the source said.
The source also claimed Circular Error Probability (CEP) is much more sophisticated than Chinese missiles. (CEP determines the accuracy: the lower the CEP, the more accurate the missile.)
Last year in November, India declared its nuclear triad stated in its nuclear doctrine operational after INS Arihant completed its first deterrence patrol.
It was commissioned into service in August 2016 and its induction was not officially acknowledged.
IANS
