India tests nuclear-capable Dhanush missile

India successfully test-fired nuclear capable Dhanush, the naval version of Prithvi short-range ballistic missile, from a warship off Odisha coast on Friday.

The indigenously developed naval version of the Prithvi short-range ballistic missile has a strike range of up to 350 km and can carry 500 kg of conventional or nuclear warhead, a Defence Research and Development Organisation official said.

"Dhanush was test-fired from a naval ship off Odisha coast at around 1125 hours," Ravi Kumar Gupta, Director in the Directorate of Public Interface in DRDO told PTI over phone.

Describing the trial as fully successful, Gupta said the test was conducted by the strategic force command (SFC) of the Indian Navy. "The trial was a complete success and all the mission objectives were accomplished," he said.

Developed by the DRDO, the missile is about 8.53 metre in length and 0.9 metre in diameter. This single stage missile uses liquid propellant.

The Dhanush missile can be used as an anti-ship weapon as well as for destroying land targets depending on the range, sources said.