| Country: |
India |
| Class: |
SRBM or SLBM |
| Basing: |
Ship or submarine launched |
| Length: |
8.53 m |
| Diameter: |
0.90 m |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 500 kg |
| Warhead: |
nuclear, HE, submunitions |
| Propulsion: |
Single-stage liquid |
| Range: |
350 km |
| Status: |
Operational |
| In Service: |
2010? |
Details
Despite many news reports (particularly from Asian news agencies) about the Dhanush missile in the last few years, relatively little is known about the missile or missile program. Consensus suggests that the missile is a short-range, ship-based, ballistic missile – probably with a liquid propellant base – that is the naval counterpart to India’s Prithvi missile series.(1)
Development on the Prithvi missile program began in 1983. The first Prithvi test launch took place in 1988 and the first two generations of Prithvi missiles, the SS-150 and SS-250, became operational in the 1990s. They are both TEL-based liquid-propellant SRBMs. In 2000 the first “Dhanush” missile was tested from a patrol vessel. This missile is believed to be similar to the SS-150 but equipped for passage and launch aboard a ship.(2)
According to most reports, the initial launch was a miserable failure (though the occasional reports suggests that it was a “partial success”).(3) Since that time, the missile program has launched about seven different test missiles.(4) Most of these tests seem to have been successful and the last two launches, in December 2009 and March 2010 seem to have been quite successful, as the Press Information Bureau of the Indian Government described development on the Danush missile in May 2010 as complete.(5) The same report mentioned that the missile was already inducted into service, though it did not mention production numbers or location of deployment.
It is difficult to find agreement on the Dhanush’s size or performance specifications. There may be several Dhanush missiles that fulfill different distance and payload requirements of the Indian Navy. Various reports suggest that the missile has a range of 250 km with possible longer-range variants.(6) Other reports suggest 350km.(7) Most reports agree that the missile has a payload of 500kg and can carry a nuclear or conventional warhead. Notably, this payload is half the payload carried by the Prithvi missile series. The missile would seem to be intended for use by Indian vessels against foreign vessels or land-based targets. The first and second generation Prithvi missiles are reported to have an accuracy of 50 m CEP. The third-generation solid-propellant Prithvi missile is reported at 25 m CEP.(8) The Dhanush would reasonably have a similar accuracy, though its ship-platform might pose certain navigational challenges. According to one source, the Dhanush is capable of 10 m CEP – if true, then the Dhanush could be very effective when employed against ships.(9)
The size and weight of the missile are not well known. If based on the SS-150, the Dhanush might be around 4,000 kg, though other sources suggest that it weighs closer to 5,500 kg.(10) Indian news sources report that the missile is 8.53 m in length and 0.9 m in diameter.(11)
Though the missile could be deployed on submarines, India lacks ballistic-missile capable submarines (SSBMs). If they were able to build and deploy a force of nuclear-capable SSBMs, then India could greatly affect its balance of power against China.
Footnotes
1. “Danush SLBM,” GlobalSecurity.org, available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/india/dhanush.htm, accessed on 27 July 2010.
2.
Jane's Strategic Weapons System, Issue 50, ed. Duncan Lennox (Surrey: Jane's Information Group, January 2009), 57-60
3. "Crash Ends Maiden Flight of India's Dhanush Missile,"
Jane's Missiles and Rockets, 1 June 2000; “Table of Indian Nuclear Forces, 2002,” from Archive of Nuclear Data, a project of the Natural Resources Defense Council, available at
http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/nudb/datab20.asp, accessed on 27 July 2010.
4. “'Dhanush' missile successfully test-fired,” The Times of India, 14 December 2009, available at
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dhanush-missile-successfully-test-fired/articleshow/5332894.cms, accessed on 27 July 2010; “Dhanush missile test fired in Orissa,” DNA: Read the World, 27 March 2010, available at
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_dhanush-missile-test-fired-in-orissa_1363918, accessed on 27 July 2010.
5. “Major DRDO Projects / Programmes which are yet to be completed,” a table published by the Press Information Bureau of the Government of India, available at
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61315, accessed on 27 July 2010.
6. “Danush SLBM.”
7. “'Dhanush' missile successfully test-fired”; “Dhanush missile test fired in Orissa”.
8.
Jane’s, 57-60.
9. “Dhanush missile successfully test fired,” Sawf News, 13 December 2009, available at
http://kuku.sawf.org/News/61710.aspx, accessed on 27 July 2010.
10. “Dhanush missile test fired in Orissa.”
11. “'Dhanush' missile successfully test-fired.”
India Fires Dhanush
January 1, 2006 :: Forbes :: News
India test-launched its short-range Dhanush ballistic missile on December 28, reports the Press Trust of India. The missile was launched from a warship in the Bay of Bengal off the eastern coast. The Dhanush, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, is the naval version of surface-to-surface Prithvi missile. It has a range of 250 kilometers and can carry a payload of 500 kilograms. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: India, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Dhanush
India Again Launches Dhanush Missile
November 8, 2004 :: RIA-Novosti :: News
India yesterday successfully tested a nuclear-capable ship-launched missile from its eastern coast. The Dhanush missile was launched from a ship in the Bay of Bengal. (More »»»)
» Press release, Govt. of India
» AFP on Dhanush launch
» More stories on: India, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Dhanush
India Tests Underwater-Launched Missile
October 27, 2004 :: News
India today tested a naval variant of a nuclear capable ballistic missile with a range of 300km. The missile tested has been identified by news sources as a “Prithvi III,” and is said to be the longest range Prithvi tested thus far.
The missile’s characteristics, however, seem to indicate that it is more likely the missile known as the Dhanush, which itself had been derived from the Prithvi II. The missile launched today is said to have previously been launched from a ship, which is also true of the Dhanush.
The missile is also said to have the capability to be launched from a submarine. Today’s launch reportedly took place from a specially constructed underwater platform and canister, from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, in the eastern coast state of Orissa, some 230km from the city of Bhubaneswar. The missile landed in the Bay of Bengal.
Indian and Western news services variously report that the missile consists of a single stage, and the missile reportedly has a length of 8.5 meters (28 ft) and a diameter of 1 meter. While it is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead—described by some reports as “sub kiloton”—it may also carry incendiary or fragmentary munitions. Each of these dimensions and capabilities roughly correspond to those previously assigned to the Dhanush missile. The dimensions of the missile called the “Prithvi III” are not known. The missile may indeed never have been completed.
It would appear that India may have applied the signification Prithvi III to the missile previously termed Dhanush, or that the news reports are simply inaccurate.
That the missile tested is in fact the Dhanush is also suggested by an October 9 report by India’s The Statesman, that such a test was planned. (Link)
» Oct. 9: Dhanush trial expected soon
» More stories on: India, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Dhanush, Prithvi SS-250, Prithvi 3
India Pursuing Blue Water Navy, Ballistic Missile Sub
June 7, 2004 :: Defense News :: News
India has the ambition to join the other great powers of the world in having a blue water ballistic missile submarines, according to a story in Defense News. India’s recent adoption of a new military doctrine aimed at the acquisition of such vessels could help to counterbalance China’s own military buildup, detailed in the DoD report released last week. India is already planning to lease a Russian Akula-class sub, but will soon develop its own vessels.
The report does not specify what sort of ballistic missiles an Indian submarine may carry, but one sea launched ballistic missile India has been working on is the Dhanush. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: India
» Missile details: Dhanush
