Gazi Abbas Shahid
Starting as a ground reporter back in his home UT of Jammu and Kashmir, Gazi has been a part of the news industry for well over a decade. While he finds every type of news engrossing, politics, partic ... Read More
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will reportedly test a new advanced sea-to-surface missile next week in the Bay of Bengal. Although details are scarce, and the exact type of missile which will be test fired is not known, its being reported that the test may be carried out somewhere around Visakhapatnam which has a naval base.
Experts are speculating that the DRDO will test a new Submarine Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM) or the K-15 Sagarika — a Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and is part of India’s nuclear triad.
Notably, the DRDO has issued a NOTAM or Notice to Airmen (a notice that alerts aircraft pilots about potential hazards along a flight route or at a location), stretching over 1,730 km, cautioning ships and aircraft not to venture into the zone between November 27 to November 30. The NOTAM issued by DRDO suggests that the missile will be a medium-range projectile, likely to be launched from the Visakhapatnam Naval Base.
Earlier, on November 16, the DRDO tested a hypersonic missile with a range of 1,500 km.
In February 2023, the DRDO had secretly tested a SLCM, now two more variants of the missile are being developed — a Land Attack Cruise Missile (LACM) and an Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM), which are reportedly upgrades variants of the Nirbhay subsonic long-range missile. The The SLCM tested by DRDO in February last year has a maximum range of 500 km, and achieved a range of 402 km.
The SLCM is 5.6 meters in length, weighs 975 kg with a warhead, and reaches its target by navigating using GPS navigation.
The SLCMs are reportedly built on the platform of Nirbhay missile, and can reach speeds of up to 864 to 1000 km/hour, and can carry warhead up to a 300 kg warhead. The SLCMs boast sea-skimming and terrain hugging capabilities, giving them the ability to sneak past radar by flying slightly above the sea, and make them very difficult to intercept.
The SLCM, which will be deployed from the Kalvari class, Sindhughosh and Project-751 class submarines, can be equipped with two types of warheads — a bunker buster precision-cum-blast warhead which can blow up bunkers and strategic targets, and an airburst warhead which can be used against weaker targets.
The K-15 Sagarika, an SLBM capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, which is part of India’s nuclear triad, has a range of 750-1500 km. It also has a land-launched version, but what makes the K-15 Sagarika lethal is its blinding speed. The missile can travel at a speed of 9260 km/hr, weighs around 7 tons and is 33 feet long.
Its very likely that the DRDO may test a new variant of the K-15 Sagarika as the NOTAM suggests the test will feature a medium-range missile.
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