India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile from a naval ship off the Odisha coast Friday night. The surface-to-surface Dhanush, a naval variant of India's indigenously-developed 'Prithvi' missile, was test fired from a ship in the Bay of Bengal at around 7.40 PM by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the defence force. Director of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) M V K V Prasad said, the missile launch was part of an exercise by the armed forces and the missile reached the designated target with high precision.

He said, the missile launch and its flight performance were monitored from the ITR at Chandipur, Odisha. Dhanush missile is capable of carrying conventional as well as nuclear payload of 500 to 1,000 kg and hit both land and sea-based targets.

Surface-to-surface missile Prithvi-II, which has a strike range of 350 km, was also test-fired from a test range at Chandipur earlier in the day.