The Indian army has today test fired its nuclear-capable Prithvi-II ballistic missile. The new nuclear capable missile comes with a strike range of 350 km from the test range.
Briefing to media about the test fire of Prithvi-II ballistic missile, an army official said, “The flight test of the surface-to-surface missile was conducted at around 0907 hrs from a mobile launcher from Integrated Test Range’s launch complex-III at Chandipur.”
Meanwhile, Prithvi-II is the first ballistic missile manufactured under India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMPD). The missile has a capacity to carry 500 km of both nuclear as well as conventional warheads with a strike range of 350 km
Further, Prithvi-II ballistic missile uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory. It was a trial test by Indian Army and was monitored by senior scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Army official said, “The whole exercise was aimed at studying the control and guidance system of the missile besides providing training to the Army.”
The Prithvi-II Ballistic missile is 9-meter long and one meter in diameter with liquid propulsion twin engine. The scientist told media that radars and electro-optical systems placed neat the coast tracked as well as noticed all the moments on the missile.
Army official said, “Prithvi-II has been successfully flight tested several times as part of the training exercise and the last trial was a complete success on August 25, 2012 as it reached the predefined target in the Bay of Bengal with a very high accuracy of better than 10 meters.”
