India on Monday successfully test-fired its indigenously-developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile, which has a strike range of 350 km from the test range at Chandipur near here.
The surface-to-surface missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 9.14 am, defence sources said. The mission achieved 100 per cent success and it was a perfect launch, according to ITR Director MVKV Prasad.
The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the total launch activities were carried out by a specially-formed SFC and monitored by the scientists of the DRDO as part of practice drill, sources said.
Before announcing the success of the missile launch, its trajectory was tracked by the DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast.
The downrange teams onboard the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown, they said.
Inducted into India’s Strategic Forces Command in 2003, the Prithvi-II, the first missile to be developed by the DRDO under India’s prestigious IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme), is now a proven technology, said defence scientists. The launch was part of a regular training exercise of the SFC and was monitored by the DRDO scientists, they said.
They added that this training launch clearly indicated India’s operational readiness to meet any eventuality and also established the reliability of this deterrent component of the country’s strategic arsenal.
Prithvi is capable of carrying 500-kg to 1000-kg of warheads and thrust by liquid propulsion twine engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory. The last users trial of Prithvi-II was successfully carried out from the same base on August 12 this year.