India successfully tests its 3,500km-range K-4 missile

INDIA HAS MOVED ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS THE INDUCTION OF THIS BALLISTIC MISSILE ON THE INS ARIHANT CLASS OF NUCLEAR SUBMARINES

NEW DELHI: The Indian strategic forces got a major boost on Sunday after the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) tested a 3,500-kilometre range submarine-launched K-4 ballistic missile off the Vizag coast, with the nuclear weapon meeting all its target objectives, officials with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The three-metre-tall missile carries a nuclear warhead of over one tonne with a circular error probability (CEP) far lower than that of Chinese ballistic missiles. Only the US, Russia and China have submarinelaunched ballistic missiles of 3,500-kilometre range. The INS Arihant is already equipped with a 700-kilometre range B-02 nuclear missile, with the second nuclear submarine INS Arighat on way to becoming operational.

Top government officials told Hindustan Times that with this test India has moved one more step towards the induction of this ballistic missile on the INS Arihant class of nuclear submarines. The missile was fired off a pontoon between 12 noon and 1 pm of f t he Vizag c oast i n Andhra Pradesh and the delivery platform was tracked over 1,500 kilometres before it shifted to ship-based radars.

“The full results of the missile test will be known in the days to come after the tracking ships return to base. It is only on that basis that we will decide whether to conduct more tests before making the missile operational. Even in the case of the Agni-5 ballistic missile, the nuclear weapon was made operational