BHUBANESWAR: Making its mark as a military superpower in the Southeast Asia region, India has finally operationalised its first home-grown nuclear capable Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), after nearly two decades of its development. This makes India the sixth in the world to have a credible triad of nuclear-enabled missiles that can be fired from land, air and undersea.
Kept under wraps for years and inducted in the Navy a couple of months ago, the SLBM, code-named ‘B-05’, was secretly test-fired back-to-back from indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant off the Vizag coast on August 11 and 12. An official associated with the mission on Sunday told TNIE three rounds of the world-class missile were tested during the first-phase user trial and it was a roaring success. Two tests were conducted on August 11, and one was done the next day.
All three missiles were fired from the submarine, nearly 20-m deep in the sea, about 10-km off the Vizag coast. It perfectly followed the pre-designated trajectory before zeroing in on the target with high accuracy, reaching close to zero circular error probability,” the official confirmed over the phone from New Delhi.
Fire Power
Operational range -750 km
Length - 10 metre
Width - 1 metre
Weight - 10 tonne
Warhead - 1,000 kg
Engine - Two-stage solid-fuelled
Best in this class in the world
Not easy to be tracked and destroyed by enemies