India on June 15 successfully carried out the night launch of Prithvi-II short range ballistic missile from an integrated test range in Odisha. The defence ministry said the missile was test-fired around 7:30 pm.
It said the test validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile.
Strike targets with a very high degree of precision
The ministry said, a successful training launch of a Short-Range Ballistic Missile, Prithvi-II was carried out at approximately 1930 hrs from the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, Odisha. The missile is a proven system and is capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision. Stating that the user training launch successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile, the DRDO said:
The Prithvi-2 missiles test-fired successfully and test met all parameters.
The surface-to-surface missile trial, which has a strike range of 350 km, was conducted at around 7.30 p.m. from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near here, according to sources, who added that it is a routine training trial. Prithvi-II was previously successfully test-fired from ITR at Chandipur during the night on February 21, 2018. Later that night, on November 20, 2019, two Prithvi-II trials were successfully conducted from the same base.
The missile launch was monitored by DRDO
Prithvi-II can carry 500-1,000 kilogrammes of warheads and is powered by twin liquid propulsion engines. According to officials, the cutting-edge missile uses an advanced inertial guidance system with a manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target. The missile was chosen at random from the production stock, and the entire launch was carried out by the Army’s Strategic Force Command (SFC) and monitored by
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists as part of a training exercise, they said.
Missile trajectory was tracked by radars
According to the source, the missile trajectory was tracked by radars, electro-optical tracking systems, and telemetry stations deployed by the DRDO along the Odisha coast. The ship’s downrange teams, which were stationed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal, monitored the terminal events and splashdown.
On November 21, 2016, two missiles were successfully test fired in salvo mode from the same base. The nine-meter-tall, single-stage liquid-fuelled Prithvi, which was already inducted into the Indian defence forces’ arsenal in 2003, is the first missile developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
