K-15 missile to be tested from land

After successfully test-firing nuke-capable submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) K-15 from underwater, defence scientists are now planning a test from land next month. Sources at Chandipur defence base Wednesday said for the first time the missile will be test-fired from a land-based launcher in the Integrated Test Range ( ), next month. During the test, the scientists will check speed, trajectory, azimuth and other parameters of the missile set for the mission, sources told this website's newspaper. Earlier, the missile had undergone two tests from the underwater platform Pontoon (replica of a submarine) immersed inside the sea. SLBM was successfully test-fired on February 27 this year from INS Kalinga off Visakhapatnam coast. India thus joined a select group of five nations —— Russia, the US, France, the UK and China to have the technology. The slender K-15 has a length of around 11 metres, larger than the 8.5 metre long Prithvi short-range ballistic missile but smaller than 15-metre-long Agni-1 ballistic missile. It can carry a payload up to one tonne. ‘The missile has two stages fitted into its half-a-metre wide body. An underwater booster propels it clear of the submarine and takes the missile to a height of 5 km above the sea surface. On reaching this altitude, a second stage solid motor kicks in to propel the missile to a distance of over 700 km,’ a defence scientist said. India is yet to finish the construction of its own nuclear-powered submarine - advanced technology vessel (ATV), from which the SLBMs will be launched. The ATV is expected to be ready for sea trials next year.