India on Friday test-fired indigenously developed short range surface–to–surface nuclear-capable ballistic missile Prithvi-II from a test range in Odisha as part of a user trial by the Army. The trial of the surface-to-surface missile with a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from a Mobile Tatra transporter-erector Launcher (MTL) from launching complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha at around 9.50 am, official sources said.
The trial of the sophisticated missile was successful and the mission objectives were met, they said.
The Prithvi-II missile is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target with precision and accuracy.
The state-of-the-art missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activities were carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army and monitored by the scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise, a DRDO scientist said.
"Carrying a dummy payload, it covered the desired striking range and met all mission objectives successfully," an official was quoted as saying by the New Indian Express.
The missile was 9 metres high and one metre thick, with a launch weight of 4.6
"The missile trajectory was tracked by the DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha," the sources said.
Teams on board the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown.
In salvo mode, two Prithvi-II missiles were successfully test fired in quick succession from the same base, on November 21, 2016.
Inducted into Indian armed forces in 2003, the nine-metre-tall, single-stage liquid-fuelled Prithvi-II is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
(With PTI inputs)
