Photos: K-15 programme’s Shourya test-fired

A successful land-configured launch under DRDO’s K-15 SLBM programme took place today as DRDO today conducted a test of what it described as a “new state-of-the-art canisterised surface-to-surface missile” Shourya with a range of 650-km. Sources however have said that the land-configured test was a continuation of the previous four tests from underwater stabilised launchers conducted over 2007 and this year.

The DRDO has termed as “successful” the flight-test of the missile system from the Interim Test Range (ITR) at Balasore in Orissa at 11.25 this morning. DRDO indicated in a statement that “this developmental flight trial of the Shourya missile system is a part of the ongoing technology development work undertaken by the DRDO.” In other words, the classified K-15 submarine launched ballistic missile programme which DRDO cannot talk about, which is why the recent underwater tests from underwater pontoon-stabilised launchers were not publicised.

According to DRDO, “The Shourya missile has a unique feature of simplicity of operation and maintenance. It can be easily handled, transported and stored within the canister for longer shelf life [a la SLBM]. The high manoeuvrability of the missile makes it less vulnerable to available anti-missile defence systems.”

Congratulations to the entire K-15 team!

Photos Courtesy DRDO

27 thoughts on “Photos: K-15 programme’s Shourya test-fired”

  1. This is intresting

    NDTV claims it is the k-15 SLBM while Times tells it is for the army. Times also had an interview with one of the DRDO gentleman who said the missile can be stored undergroung or something and made a feel that this is not the SLBM. Could someone clarify this.

  2. DRDO is talking rot. this was a land test of the K-15 itself. this particular test was to test parameters other than underwater performance, etc. this is the K-15.

  3. isn’t Shourya a supersonic cruise missile ?? if it is then in spite of its short range it maybe effective , but range does hinder its effectiveness up to some extent

  4. Shiv,
    Lot of questions. Understandable there would be very less info on public domain because this is a strategic project. 1 more q… What is the payload capacity at 650/700km range?

    Whatever be this new missile, it is essential to complete the testing fast and induct it in big numbers. Looking at its range, it seems like this cud be a replacement for Agni-I (which itself is an COMPARATIVELY unsuccessful technology demonstrator of the Agni series).

    I too wanna know what Shaurya means!

  5. shaurya is valour or courage. now let us lay to rest all the speculation and doublespeak. the shourya is nothing but the k-15 cannisterised for land launch. it is part of project sagarika. the land launch was part of testing the k-15 for azimuth, trajectory, core ballistics, accuracy and sundry telemetric purposes. it is confirmed from orissa, which is bereft of the paranoid HQ fellows. drdo has never before specified which service a missile is for. by specifying it is for army application, they have given the game away. here it is once and for all. shourya is land-config launch test of the k-15. and yes, the missile does make for a convenient cannisterised SSM. underground launcher is fine. it will also have a truck launcher.

  6. look at the brainless explanation prasun sengupta has given about shourya on his blog. this man’s misinformation stops at nothing. and it is dangerous because he makes it sound credible with technical mumbo jumbo.

  7. here is my explanation on Shourya:

    Both the photos of the test-launch and the accompanying DRDO statement reveal everything. Let’s take this a step further. Firstly, you need to put this development in context by bearing in mind the recent Indian Army disclosure that it wants to construct a series of underground tunnels. What was not said, however, was that these so-called tunnels are in fact going to be hardened caverns to be used for storing tactical strike missile systems (and their command-and-control systems) like the Shourya, similar to what the Chinese have done in Sichuan and what they are now doing in Tibet. Going by past practice, it is up to the DRDO to first demonstrate the technologies required for such missile systems and their command-and-control networks before a user-requirement is drafted and this explains why the Shourya has been classified as an on-going technology development effort. Hence, the DRDO had to develop a missile system that is mobile (both by road and by air) and which can be quickly deployed and fired and this explains the missile’s solid propellant-based rocket propulsion. The reason why the missile has been canisterised is that it is totally insulated from the vagaries of the weather when deployed on board a 12 x 12 transporter-erector-launcher (SLBMs in contrast are not canisterised, but are loaded directly into their vertical launch silos and therefore the Shourya has nothing to do with the K-15 or Sagarika Project office). Next, as the DRDO statement says, the Shourya is a surface-to-surface missile, and not a ballistic missile. This is further proven by the existence of directional thrusters, which are used primarily to shape the cruise trajectory of the missile in the post-boost phase. Therefore, expect the Shourya to have the same type of non-ballistic (but cruise) flight trajectory as the BrahMos in the post-boost phase. For purposes of accuracy, also expect the Shourya to have on-board GPS receivers for the second-stage’s terminal guidance. Now, when you put all these inputs together, what you have is a precision-guided surface-to-surface missile that can be used for both pinpoint conventional strikes as well as nuclear strikes when using tactical nuclear (neutron) warheads. It needs to be borne in mind that the majority of nuclear warheads presently deployed by China and Pakistan against India are of the tactical nuclear type, and not the kind of boosted-fission or thermonuclear warheads. Therefore, India too needs to deploy a missile tipped with a tactical nuclear warhead, and which can also survive interception by ballistic missile defence systems. All this explains why the Shourya is being developed and demonstrated as a manoeuvrable, land-mobile surface-to-surface missile (not ballistic) for tactical conventional/nuclear strike and that too primarily against targets inside China, like those in Sichuan and the Tibet Autonomous Region. In my view, it is highly unlikely that the Shourya will be deployed against Pakistan as the Prithvi and BrahMos are more than enough for delivering highly destructive and lethal conventional strikes deep within Pakistan. But when it comes to deploying tactical missiles in mountainous terrain and against high-value targets in depth (between 300km and 600km) what one needs is a system that can be rapidly deployed and launched without too large a logistics tail, and this is where a system like the Shourya comes into play. It is thus a China-specific precision-guided weapon.

    Hope it answer all your questions

  8. Prosoon you don’t have a shaurya missile post on your blog.
    Where did you get this info about india having neutron bombs?
    Was this one of the devices tested in Pokharan – Shakti tests?
    The missile range may be almost twice what is claimed if the warhead is lighter. Currently it is 600Km for a 1 tonne warhead.

  9. Shourya not related to the K-15?

    Somebody should inform W. Selvamurthy then.

    W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller (R&D), DRDO, said the Shourya missile provided the country with “a second strike capability” because it was a variant of the under-water launched K-15 missile (Sagarika).

    Neutron Bombs??? I seriously doubt that.

  10. Express News ServiceFirst Published : 15 Nov 2008 11:10:00 AM ISTLast Updated : 15 Nov 2008 02:00:07 PM ISTBALASORE:

    Even as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) declared to have tested a new supersonic surface-to-surface missile (SSM) from Orissa’s Chandipur base, sources here today claimed that the missile was nothing but a variant of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) K-15.

    On Wednesday, a release from the DRDO had claimed that the 600-km range missile, ‘Shaurya’ was successfully test-fired from the integrated test range (ITR) and it had nothing to do with the K-15 project.

    ‘‘It was a surprise announcement.

    The DRDO can name the missile but how can they deny its link with the K-15 project. The missile tested was only the land version of K-15,’’ said a source.

    He claimed that ‘Shaurya’ was not etched on the missile body. ‘‘Generally missile names are written on their bodies. But on the particular missile, it was mentioned as DRDO and code name GS 02,’’ he clarified. He further added that the missle was test-fired from an underground silo with a depth of nearly 35 feet. ‘‘If it was just a SSM why there was a need of underground silo? The announcement was just to hoodwink and confuse public over earlier media reports,’’ the source said besides claiming that there was no modification in the K-15 missile that was tested in February.

    ‘‘It was fired from the silo only to closely monitor the behaviour of the missile and analyse the performance of its indigenously developed sophisticated navigation system.

    Last time it had met all mission objectives while it was tested from Poonton (replica of submarine).

    This time, they checked its accuracy from in-land test. They wanted to be sure whether it can be fired both from silo and submarine,’’ he said.

    The source further pointed at cost cutting measures as another reason behind the ground-testing. “Around Rs 8 crore is spent on single test from submarine. But it costs half, if it is tested from the underground silo,” he said, adding, India may be keeping the mission secret due to international pressure as only a few countries have the technology of SLBM.

  11. Exactly, this is a strategic program, there wont be much info let out to public domain…!

    For that matter, I feel the range of the Agni series is also seriously underrated on public domain – just to keep the inquisitive boggers, journalist and anti-ICBM lobbies silent.

    Who in the right mind would release actual metrics to public domain? look at china – we dont know how much they are spending, what they are spending on, how successful their indigenous products are, how many of anything they have.. nothing.

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