India tests K-4 submarine-launched ballistic missile successfully

The test fire of 3,500-kilometre range ballistic missile known as K-4 from a nuclear capable submarine was successful, sources in Defence Research and Development Organsiation (DRDO) said on Sunday.

The missile developed by DRDO would be equipped on indigenous Indian Navy Ship Arihant, which is nuclear-powered submarine.

These missiles, once inducted, will be the mainstay of the Arihant class of indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarines (SSBN) and will give India the stand off capability to launch nuclear weapons submerged in Indian waters.

It is Indian Navy Ship Arihant, the first and only operational SSBN, is armed with K-15 Sagarika missiles with a range of 750 km.

The DRDO test fired successfully from submerged pontoon off the Visakhapatnam coast on Sunday afternoon. Sources said that the test met the desired parameters.

“A pontoon simulates the situation of a launch from a submarine,” the source said.

The missile has been tested several times earlier as part of developmental trials to validate different parameters, the source said.

“The missile ejecting from a submerged platform to the surface is the toughest part,” the source said.

The Circular Error Probability (CEP) is much more sophisticated than Chinese missiles. The CEP determines the accuracy of a missile. The lower the CEP, the more accurate the missile is.

Last year in November, India declared its nuclear triad stated in its nuclear doctrine operational after INS Arihant completed its first deterrence patrol.

It was commissioned into service in August 2016 and its induction was not officially acknowledged.