K-4 Test Will Put India In Top 5

DRDO’s K-4 SLBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile) is all set to undergo a long-awaited test-firing. If the test goes through, it will validate all necessary technologies necessary for executing a long-range strike through the ‘second-strike’ arm of India’s nuclear triad.

DRDO’s K-4 SLBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile) may be test-fired from India’s first-ever indigenously developed nuclear-propelled submarine INS Arihant, as early as November 8 or November 9, 2019. A NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) has been issued for securing two air corridors over the Bay of Bengal for two separate upcoming missile tests. While the first corridor measuring 3490 km stretches from the Visakhapatnam coast up to a remote region of the Indian Ocean near the North-Western Australian coast, the second corridor measuring 1700 km stretches from Chandipur in Odisha up to the Southern Andaman Sea. This is the second NOTAM issued on very short notice after the first NOTAM expired without any missile launch.

Earlier attempt which was scrubbed

The first NOTAM was reportedly issued for a launch window spanning across three days (October 23 to 25, 2019) for a 3400-km corridor over the Bay of Bengal. The time of the launch was determined to be between 12 PM and 4 PM IST. Taking into consideration the length of the corridor, defense experts assumed it to be the preparations for the launch of the much-awaited K-4 missile from the Indian Navy’s INS Arihant SSBN (ballistic missile submarine). The preparations of the test were highlighted prominently by the Indian media. The launch was expected at a time when the Indian Navy was actively conducting surface, subsurface and anti-aircraft firing drills in the Arabian Sea. The drills were being executed over two phases, with the first phase between October 22 and October 25, 2019, followed by the second phase between October 26 and November 2, 2019. Just a few hours before the NOTAM was expected to expire on October 25, the second NOTAM was issued.

Second attempt