BALASORE: Even as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) declared to have tested a new supersonic surface-to-surface missile (SSM) from Orissa’s Chandipur base, sources here today claimed that the missile was nothing but a variant of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) K-15.
On Wednesday, a release from the DRDO had claimed that the 600-km range missile, ‘Shaurya’ was successfully test-fired from the integrated test range (ITR) and it had nothing to do with the K-15 project.
‘‘It was a surprise announcement.
The DRDO can name the missile but how can they deny its link with the K-15 project. The missile tested was only the land version of K-15,’’ said a source.
He claimed that ‘Shaurya’ was not etched on the missile body. ‘‘Generally missile names are written on their bodies. But on the particular missile, it was mentioned as DRDO and code name GS 02,’’ he clarified. He further added that the missle was test-fired from an underground silo with a depth of nearly 35 feet. ‘‘If it was just a SSM why there was a need of underground silo? The announcement was just to hoodwink and confuse public over earlier media reports,’’ the source said besides claiming that there was no modification in the K-15 missile that was tested in February.
‘‘It was fired from the silo only to closely monitor the behaviour of the missile and analyse the performance of its indigenously developed sophisticated navigation system.
Last time it had met all mission objectives while it was tested from Poonton (replica of submarine).
This time, they checked its accuracy from in-land test. They wanted to be sure whether it can be fired both from silo and submarine,’’ he said.
The source further pointed at cost cutting measures as another reason behind the ground-testing. “Around Rs 8 crore is spent on single test from submarine. But it costs half, if it is tested from the underground silo,” he said, adding, India may be keeping the mission secret due to international pressure as only a few countries have the technology of SLBM.