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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| India Tests Ship-Lunched Nuclear-Capable Missile |
| 2004-11-07 |
| India on Sunday tested a nuclear-capable ship-launched missile off its eastern coast, an official said. The Dhanush missile, capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads, was launched from an Indian navy ship in the Bay of Bengal, the official said on condition of anonymity. Pakistan, which also routinely carries out missile tests, declined comment on the test but said it was against an arms race. "CRAP!" "Pakistan will not get into an arms race in the region," said Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the top army spokesman. "We will maintain a minimum credible deterrence." "We can't afford it" A senior official at the Foreign Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Pakistan was informed ahead of the Indian missile test. "Dhanush," which means "bow" in the Hindi language, was tested from the ship INS Subhadra some 20 miles away from India's missile testing site at Chandipur-on-Sea in the eastern state of Orissa. The site is 750 miles southeast of New Delhi. With a strike range of 156 miles, the missile can carry a load of 1,100 pounds, the Indian official said. The Dhanush is one of five types of missiles being developed by the state-owned Defense Research and Development Organization. India's missile arsenal also includes the short-range ballistic Prithvi, the medium-range Agni, the anti-tank Nag and the supersonic Brahmos. The Dhanush was a naval variant of the Prithvi missile, the official said. Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan routinely test-fire missiles they are developing for military use. When either country tests larger missiles they normally inform the other before the launch. |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #10 I'm not sure about the Shan's command & control facilities, but he did start implementing software & computer networks similar to ours. I worked in the Pentagon on ours as a young programmer & was offered a sweet deal to go to Teheran and work on theirs. My new husband dug in his heels, I decided to stay LOL and 18 months into what would have been a 24 month contract the Shah fell. So I don't know how far they got on the technology side. |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-11-07 3:53:44 PM |
| #9 Somehow, I really can't blame and feel like I must kinda encourage India to keep developing this stuff. With a barely "not-going-over-the-fucking-brink-to-theocracy" government and a almost nuclear capible Iran, it seems like a logical thing for a democracy to do. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2004-11-07 2:33:13 PM |
| #8 ...Someone refresh my memory, and I may be remembering this wrong - but didn't the Shah have his own 'Cheyenne Mountain' type hideout that up to now has been out of reach of Israel?... If the mullahs were using that place, they might be rethinking it now. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-11-07 1:43:00 PM |
| #7 I think they would. No matter what they did there would be a reply. I don't think they would ignore the deterent. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-11-07 1:27:34 PM |
| #6 Sock---just a thought, but would Israeli sub launched nukes really defang Iran? If these MM guys believe their sh*t like we think they do, wouldn't they ignore this deterrant, unlike rational people? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-11-07 1:14:08 PM |
| #5 Wow, the Indians just keep on coming. Nothing too fancy, but filling in the gaps where "CAPABILITY: none" existed before. |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-11-07 11:29:19 AM |
| #4 I know Isreal will be having to do some modifications to their subs. I think this was the real reason they had high profile contacts with India not to long ago. Sub launched nuke tiped missles would defang Iran. The message to Iran, you can't win. Same message that we and the Russians sent each other MAD. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-11-07 10:06:17 AM |
| #3 saw that one coming...lol D'oh! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-07 9:58:05 AM |
| #2 Mmmmmm, lunch... |
| Posted by: Homer Simpson 2004-11-07 9:57:13 AM |
| #1 ship lunched? CRAP! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-07 8:12:17 AM |