India enters elite missile club
India today (February 26) successfully test fired its first-ever under sea ballistic missile, 10 kilometers from Visakhapatnam. The K 15 missile with a range of 700 kilometers was test fired from a pontoon immersed in the sea. A pontoon was used to launch the K 15 missile as India does not possess a submarine capable of lunching the missile.
The successful test of the nuclear capable K 15 missile has propelled India in the elite club of countries –the US, Russia, France and China — to possess such a capability and it would considerably enhance the country’s nuclear deterrence as sea-launched missiles will form crucial part of the country’s second strike nuclear capability. This missile technology allows India to mount a second strike in the event of a nuclear strike.
The K 15 missile will eventually be integrated with a nuclear-powered submarine that India is currently constructing.
RAKESH sikhinam