BHUBANESWAR: Amid mounting cross-border tensions, another Pakistan-specific ballistic missile is allegedly ready for deployment, as the indigenously developed Pralay (literally meaning apocalypse) has cleared user validation trials during twin tests conducted over two days from a defence facility off the Odisha coast.
Defence sources said two rounds of the tactical short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) were successfully test-fired from the Abdul Kalam Island-based launching complex-IV of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) on Monday and Tuesday.
Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the missiles precisely followed the intended trajectory, demonstrated mid-air manoeuvres and hit-to-kill accuracy with pin-point precision—meeting all the mission objectives and indicating maturity of the system for battlefield deployment.
“Two consecutive successful flight-tests of the Pralay missile were carried out as a part of user evaluation trials to validate the maximum and minimum range capability of the missile system. All subsystems performed as per expectations, which were verified using test data captured by various tracking sensors, including instruments deployed on ships positioned near the designated point of impact,” the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.
Powered by solid propellant, the canisterised Pralay employs state-of-the-art guidance and navigation to ensure high precision. The missile is capable of carrying multiple types of warheads against various targets and destroying targets up to 500 km. It weighs around five tonnes. With a payload of 1000 kg, it can travel a distance of 350 km, and if the payload is halved, the missile can allegedly hit a target as far as 500 km.
Pralay is part of the country’s strategic Integrated Rocket Force, a dedicated wing of the Strategic Forces Command (SFC). Comparable with China’s Dong Feng-12, Russian 9K720 Iskander, US Army’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) and South Korea’s Hyunmoo-2, Pralay is designed to deceive anti-ballistic missile interceptors.
“What makes the missile unique in its class is that Pralay can fly at hypersonic speed in a quasi-ballistic trajectory and perform terminal manoeuvres to delude ballistic missile defence (BMD) of the enemy,” said a defence scientist.
The MoD has already cleared orders for Pralay missiles for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF). The missile, which fills the gap of a conventionally armed ballistic weapon system and remains unaffected by the 'no first use' nuclear policy, will be deployed with conventional warheads along the borders. It can target radar and communication installations, command and control centres, and advanced airfields.
Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D and DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat congratulated the teams and said the successful completion of this phase-1 flight test paved the way for induction of the system into the armed forces in the near future.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented the DRDO, the armed forces and the industry for the successful flight-tests. “The missile equipped with modern technologies will give further technological boost to the armed forces against threats,” he said.
The system has been developed by Research Centre Imarat in collaboration with other DRDO labs, including Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Advanced Systems Laboratory, Armament Research and Development Establishment, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), and ITR, apart from industry partners like Bharat Dynamics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited.
The flight-tests were witnessed by senior scientists of DRDO, representatives of the users from the IAF and the Indian Army, as well as industry representatives.
Photo caption: Pralay missile being test-fired from ITR off Odisha coast | EPS