India's cruise missile to be tested next year

Sagarika, India's first submarine-launched nuclear-capable cruise missile, will be ready for flight trials by early next year, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) sources said.

The turbo-jet powered, vertically launched cruise missile with a range of 700 nautical miles and capable of delivering a 500-kg warhead, is being developed by DRDO with Israeli assistance. India is simultaneously seeking to rope in European missile firms for the project that is being kept under wraps.

The sources said the missile's first prototype, incorporating a solid fuel booster, should be ready for a test flight by early 2008.

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