India Successfully Test Fires Prithvi II Ballistic Missile

India on 26^th september successfully test-fired its indigenously developed, nuclear-capable, ballistic missile Prithvi-II from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Balasore district off Odisha coast. The Prithvi-II missile mounted on a mobile launcher was blasted off from the launch complex number 3 in the ITR at 8:58 am morning. The missile with a maximum striking range of 350 km is capable of carrying a pay-load of 1,000 kilogram.

The test firing of the surface-to-surface missile, which has already been inducted into Indian armed forces, is a users trial by the Army’s specialised group 'Strategic Force Command (SFC). Prithvi, the first ballistic missile developed under the country’s prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), is propelled by liquid propulsion twin engine. With a length of nine metre and one metre diameter, Prithvi-II uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory.

The entire trajectory trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars and electro-optic telemetry stations positioned in different locations for the post-launch analysis. The trial was conducted in the presence of senior army officials and scientists as part of an exercise to well acquaint the personnel with various aspects of the sophisticated missile. Earlier, a number of occasions, Prithvi-II missile has been successfully conducted from the same site.