Deba R Mohanty quoted in Press Trust of India coverage of India's Underwater Missile Test

India today made a major stride towards completing its nuclear triad capability by successfully test firing a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, with a strike range of around 1,500 kilometres, from an underwater platform in Bay of Bengal. It will give India the ability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles from land, air and sea. This is the first missile in the under water category to have been fully developed by India and can be launched from a submarine.

“The medium range K-5 ballistic missile was test fired successfully today from an under water pontoon and all parameters of the test firing were met,” Defence Research and Development Organisation Chief V K Saraswat said from an undisclosed test area. Officials said more than 10 trials of the missile had been carried out earlier.

Only a select few nations, including the US, France, Russia and China have this type of missile capability, they said.

The development phase of the K-5 missile, in the category of submarine-launched ballistic missile, was over and it was now ready for deployment on various platforms, including the 6,000-tonne indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant, under development, Saraswat said.

K-5 is part of the family of underwater missiles being developed by DRDO for the Indian strategic forces’ underwater platforms. The missile, which is also known as BO5, has been developed by DRDO’s Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL).

This missile will help India to achieve the capability of launching nuclear warheads from underwater facilities. So far, India had the capability of delivering nuclear weapons from land and aerial platforms only.

[....] Defence analyst Deba R Mohanty said by achieving the nuclear triad, India will certainly be on the upward trajectory of becoming a global military power in the real sense.

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