BALASORE: India successfully carried out a night trial of the nuclear-capable Prithvi-2 missile developed locally as part of a user test by the Army from a test range in Odisha, defense sources He said.
State of the art surface-to-surface missile took off around 7.30 pm from launch complex 3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur near Balasore and the test was successful, they said.
The last test of Prithvi-2, conducted after sunset on September 23 from the same base, was also successful.
The test of the missile, which has an attack range of 350 km, was carried out from a mobile launcher, said a Defense Research and Development official (DRDO).
“The missile’s trajectory was tracked by radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations by the DRDO along the coast of Odisha,” he said.
The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and all launch activity was conducted by the Army’s Strategic Force Command (SFC) and monitored by DRDO scientists as part of a training exercise, defense sources said.
Lower rank teams aboard a ship deployed near the designated point of impact in the bay of bengal monitored terminal and landing events.
The Prithvi-2 missile is capable of carrying between 500 and 1000 kg of warheads and is powered by twin liquid-propulsion engines, sources said.
The sophisticated missile uses an advanced inertial guidance system with a maneuvering trajectory to hit its target, they said.
Already included in the arsenal of the Indian defense forces in 2003, the nine meter high ‘Prithvi’ was the first missile developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP)
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