India successfully test-fires nuclear capable hypersonic missile Shaurya

BHUBANESWAR: India successfully test-fired an advanced version of nuclear capable hypersonic missile Shaurya from a defence facility off the Odisha coast on Saturday.

The surface-to-surface medium range hybrid missile blasted off from a hermetically canister in ground launch mode from the Abdul Kalam Island test range at about 12.10 pm.

“The missile equipped with multiple advanced computing technology, very high accuracy navigation, efficient propulsion, sophisticated control and guidance systems followed the trajectory exactly to the predefined target in Bay of Bengal. The mission was a copy book success,” informed a defence official from New Delhi.

The indigenously developed missile that took off vertically was tracked and monitored through an integrated system of sophisticated radars, electro-optical tracking instruments and a chain of telemetry stations positioned in different points along the east coast. Ships located near the target also tracked and witnessed the final event.

"The missile performed a manoeuvre in the terminal phase and hit the impact point with a few metre accuracy. It is one of the top-10 missiles of the world in its class and adds more teeth to the Indian arsenal," the official added.

The missile capable of deceiving enemy radar is aimed at giving India more options to hit back, in case it is attacked with nuclear weapons. Though sources told The New Indian Express that it was the first user specific trial of the missile, there was no official confirmation from the defence authorities.

The two-staged solid propelled missile, essentially a land variant of Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) K-15 (renamed as B-05), is now under serial production. Capable of performing various roles and easy to operate, it can be used by both the Navy and the Army.

With a strike range of about 750 km, Shaurya is about 10 metres long and its diameter is 0.74 metre. Developed with state-of-the-art indigenous technology, the missile strikes at a speed of Mach 7.5. Its launch weight is 6.2 tonnes and it can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads up to 1000 kg.