BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to strengthen its strategic preparedness, the Indian Army on Thursday successfully conducted a night trial of surface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic missile Prithvi-II from a defence test facility off Odisha coast.
Equipped with state-of-the-art guidance system, the missile with a dummy payload blasted off from launching complex III of Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 8.30 pm.
The trial was conducted by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the army in full operational configuration as part of a scenario-based live launch training exercise.
A defence official said the trial was aimed at validating the readiness of the army to launch missiles any time in all weather conditions at short notice.
“It is essential that defence personnel have the practice of using night vision arms and ammunition. The launch of Prithvi-II was flawless and it achieved all parameters set out for the training exercise,” he informed.
Prithvi missiles are indigenously produced and equipped with improved high accuracy navigation and manoeuvring system.
Developed by DRDO under India’s prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, it is the first missile to be inducted in the armed forces.
The test was conducted as part of the operational exercise. A naval ship located at the impact point tracked the missile hitting the target accurately.
All the radars and other sensors along the east coast also monitored the missile trajectory parameters.
Defence sources said the missile used for the test was picked up randomly from the assembly line after production.
The mission has achieved single digit accuracy reaching close to zero circular error probability.
“The entire flight path of the missile was smooth in accordance with pre-decided coordinates. The missile was fired for full range,” said the official.
Having a strike range of 350 km, Prithvi-II missile has the capability to carry 500 kg warhead.
It has a length of nine metre with one-metre diameter.
It is thrust by liquid propulsion twin engine and uses advanced inertial guidance system that helps the weapon reach targets with a few metre accuracy.
The missile weighs around 4.6 tonne and uses an inertial guidance system with reasonably good accuracy. The warhead uses a radar correlation terminal guidance system.