India tests submarine-launched ballistic missile

India has tested a nuclearcapable ballistic missile with a range of around 3500 km from a nuclearpowered submarine in the Bay of Bengal in a major boost to its nuclear deterrence and strategic capabilities people familiar with the matter said on ThursdayWith the test India became part of a small group of nations having the capability to fire a nuclear missile from land air and underseaThe K4 missile was tested from submarine INS Arighaat off the coast of Visakhapatnam on Wednesday the officials quoted above said adding that it was the first test of the submarinelaunched ballistic missile SLBM from a submarineThe solidfuelled missile was tested at least five times in the last few years from submersible platformsThe people cited above said the missile was tested for almost its complete range The second Arihantclass submarine INS Arighaat was commissioned into the Indian Navy on August 29 with an aim to strengthen Indias nuclear deterrenceIt has the distinction of having the indigenous systems and equipment that were conceptualised designed manufactured and integrated by the Indian scientists industry and naval personnelIn the last few years India has been enhancing its overall military capabilities and testfired a range of missiles with varying rangesOver 10 days ago India successfully flighttested a longrange hypersonic missile off the coast of Odisha The weapon can strike with extreme speed and evade most air defence systemsGenerally hypersonic missiles capable of carrying conventional explosives or nuclear warheads can fly in the range of five times the speed of sound Mach 5 which is roughly 1220 kilometres per hour at sea levelHowever some advanced versions of hypersonic missiles can even fly at the speed of over 15 MachAt present Russia and China are way ahead in developing hypersonic missiles while the US is in the process of developing a range of such weapons under an ambitious programmeHypersonic missiles are considered highly manoeuvrable and agile as they can change course midway The ballistic missiles which can also fly at Mach 5 have limited manoeuvrability in view of predetermined trajectoriesIndia is focusing on bolstering its combat capabilities against the backdrop of Chinas aggressive military muscleflexingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever