Indian army successfully test fires Prithvi-II ballistic missile
Published: 18th May 2016 02:43 PM | Last Updated: 18th May 2016 03:30 PM | A+A A-
BHUBANESWAR: The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian army on Wednesday conducted a fresh user trial of surface-to-surface short range ballistic missile (MRBM) Prithvi-II from a defence base off the Odisha coast.
The indigenously built nuclear capable missile was test launched from a Mobile Tatra transporter-erector Launcher (MTL) at the launching complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 9.40 am reconfirming the armed forces' preparedness to launch the missile in a war like scenario.
A defence official said the missile was fired as part of operational exercise by the armed forces. "While the personnel of the army launched the missile on their own, DRDO provided all logistic supports. The missile used for the test was picked up randomly from the production line to check its effectiveness and killing precision," he said.
Carrying a dummy payload, the missile rose into the sky leaving behind a chain of thick smoke. It travelled along the intended trajectory perfectly before splashing down at the point of impact after covering the desired distance.
A naval ship located at the impact point tracked and monitored the missile. All the radars and other sensors along the east coast also monitored the missile’s trajectory parameters.
"The missile attained an altitude of around 44 km and covered the distance in nearly eight minutes. It has achieved single digit accuracy reaching close to zero circular error probability (CEP). The entire flight path of the missiles was smooth in accordance with pre-decided coordinates," the official said.
Prithvi, the first missile developed under Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), has the capability to carry 500 Kg to 1000 kg of warhead. It has a length of nine meters with one metre diameter. It is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engine and uses Advanced Inertial Guidance System (AIGS) with maneouring trajectory.
The missile weighing around 4.6 tonne uses an inertial guidance system with reasonably good accuracy and the warhead uses a radar correlation terminal guidance system. It can target mobile targets including unmanned aerial vehicles.