Balasore: India successfully test-fired Wednesday night its indigenously developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ‘Prithvi-2’ missile as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range at Chandipur, an official of the Interim Test Range (ITR) said.
“Two Prithvi-2 missiles were test-fired consecutively and both tests met all parameters,” the official informed.
The trial of the missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the ITR between 7.00pm to 7.15pm, informed the official.
It was a routine trial, he said adding, “The missile trajectory was tracked by radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along the coast of Odisha.”
The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activity was carried out by Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Army and monitored by scientists of DRDO as part of the training exercise, official sources said.
The downrange teams onboard a ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown.
‘Prithvi-2’ is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kg of warheads and is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines, the sources said. The state-of-the-art missile uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target, they said.
Already inducted into the armoury of Indian Defence Forces in 2003, nine-metre tall ‘Prithvi’ was the first missile to have been developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
PNN & Agencies