Accordingly to a press  report published in IDN, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was contemplating a crucial test of India's Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) K-4 sometime in January. However, so far, no news has emerged about this impending test.

The scientists at the DRDO are keen on K-4 trial as the last attempt on December 17 had failed. The missile could not be launched from the pontoon positioned in the Bay of Bengal off the Vizag coast due to some technical snags. The missile, world's best in this class, will have to undergo a couple of more developmental trials before being inducted in the armed forces.

The 12 metre tall missile weighs around 17 tonnes and can carry a warhead weighing up to 2,000 kg with a strike range of over 3,500 km. The missile is powered by solid rocket motors.

The manoeuvrable missile having an innovative system of interlacing in three dimensions and can also cruise at hypersonic speeds, this exceptional feature makes it difficult to be tracked and teerminated by any anti-ballistic missile defence systems.

The K-4 along with the other systems developed by DRDO will strengthen the country’s position in the exclusive club of six nations including Russia, US, France, UK and China which have the capability of firing nuclear tipped missiles from air, land and undersea.

However, no news has emerged either from the press or from the DRDO about this test. Did the test take place which may have resulted in failure (the obvious silence deems such a view) or was the test was a grand success achieving its desired goals? This speculation will continue to remain as a matter of conjecture as long as there is silence from either the MoD or DRDO.

Our Bureau