Prithvi-II Test-Fire: India Successfully Conducts Night Trail of Its Nuclear Capable Missile
The missile was inducted into the armed forces in 2003. The missile is primarily a battlefield weapon, with a strike range of 350 km.
Bhubaneswar, February 22: India successfully conducted a night trail of nuclear-capable medium range surface to surface missile Prithvi-II off the Odisha coast. The Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Army launched the missile under the supervision of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The missile was test fired from a mobile launcher positioned at the launching complex 3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur on the sea at about 8.30 p.m. The missile trajectory was tracked by radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations by the DRDO.
The launch of the indigenously developed missile is the second test of the missile in two weeks. The Prithvi-II missiles test comes a day after successful trial of 2,000 km range Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) Agni-II from Abdul Kalam Island. The Prithvi-II is India’s first developed and inducted indigenous surface-to-surface strategic missile.
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 (IGMDP), the sources added. The test launch proves the reliability of the weapon and reconfirmed its operational readiness which means it can be fired anytime and in any terrain in short notice.
The Government of India launched the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program in 1983 to achieve self-sufficiency in the development and production of wide range of ballistic missiles, surface-to-air missiles etc. Prithvi was the first missile to be developed under the program.
The missile was inducted into the armed forces in 2003. The missile is primarily a battlefield weapon, with a strike range of 350 km. It must be noted that the Prithvi-II was successfully test fired on February 7 and its operative capabilities were confirmed. The Prithvi-II missile is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kg of warheads and is thrust by liquid propulsion twin engines.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 22, 2018 03:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).