- India on 23 February 2018, successfully test-fired the nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile from a naval ship off Odisha coast at around 10.52 AM.
- It was test-fired from the ship positioned near Paradip in the Bay of Bengal.
- Its trial was carried out by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the defence forces.
- It is a surface-to-surface missile with a strike range of 350 km.
- Dhanush is the naval variant of the indigenously-developed Prithvi-II missile.
- As per the Defence Research and Development Organisation, it was a perfect mission and the missile splashed down near the target point with high degree of accuracy.
- ‘Dhanush’ missile has a length of 8.53 meters and 0.9 metre wide is capable of carrying a payload of 500 kg and hitting both land and sea-based targets.
- The single-stage, liquid-propelled ‘Dhanush’, has already been inducted into the defence services.
- It is one of the five missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
- The last trial of Dhanush was successfully tested on April 9, 2015.
