Balasore: India successfully test-fired the indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface short-range missile for the third time from the launch pad no-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-Sea in Odisha’s Balasore district on Saturday night.
The missile, with a strike range of 350 km was test-fired at around 8.32 pm from a mobile launcher in salvo mode. The missile hit the target within 7 to 10 minutes meeting all parameters, said defence sources.
The launch activities were carried out by the specially formed Strategic Force Command (SFC) and monitored by scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise,” the DRDO scientists said.
The missile trajectory was tracked by DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located at Wheeler Island and along the coast of Odisha.
Inducted into India’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) in 2003, Prithvi-II is the first missile developed by DRDO under India’s prestigious IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Program). With a strike range of around 350Kms, the twin-engine Prithvi-II is 8.56 meters in length, 1.1 meters in width and weighs 4600 kg.
Designed to operate with both liquid and solid fuels, the Prithvi-II is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear payloads up to 500 kg.
The test-fire of the missile was conducted from Chandipur on February 21 this year.
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