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India test-fires submarine missile from land
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 13 November 2008, 23:47 IST |
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Balasore: India Wednesday test-fired a submarine ballistic missile (SLBM) Shauriya from land for the first time, defence sources said.
It was test fired successfully from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in the district of Balasore in Orissa, about 230 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.
The missile has two stages fitted into its half-metre-wide body. It can carry a payload up to one tonne and has a highest range of 700 km.
The missile had earlier undergone three tests previously in an underwater platform. The Wednesday test was intended to check speed, trajectory, maximum height and other parameters of the missile.
The new weapon, a K-15 missile, is an undersea submarine-launched ballistic missile with a range of up to 435 miles. The K-15 missile has a length of around 11 metres, larger than the 8.5-metre-long Prithvi short-range ballistic missile but smaller than the 15-metre-long Agni-1 ballistic missile.
The district administration evacuated temporarily about 3,010 people from about five villages located within the a two-km radius of the defence base hours before the test in the area, district collector A.C. Padhiary told IANS.
According to an Associated Press report, India and longtime rival Pakistan routinely test-fire missiles. They usually notify each other ahead of missile launches in keeping with an agreement between the two nations. India test-fired the K-15 missile from a pontoon immersed in the sea earlier this year. India's current crop of missiles are mostly intended for confronting neighboring archrival Pakistan.
The Agni 3, in contrast, is India's longest-range missile, designed to reach 1,900 miles � putting China's major cities well into range, as well as targets deep in the Middle East.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947. They have been holding peace talks since 1994 aimed at resolving their differences, including their dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir.