A sea-based missile, a bit longer than 8.5 meteres, the Dhanush weighs 4.6 tons. With a range up to 250 km, it can carry a warhead-nuclear or conventional-up to 500 kilograms to hit sea and ground targets. Military experts who informed RIA Novosti regard it as analogous to the Prithiwi 2 surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile. The Dhanush is one of the five missiles India's Defense R&D Organization is developing.
The Dhanush was launched today from the "Subhadra" warship as it was patrolling the Bay of Bengal near the Orissa coast in the country's east, 30 kilometers off the Chandipur testing grounds.
Today's was a third Dhanush test. An initial, of April 11, 2000, was a failure, and the next, September 21, 2001, a success.
