India all set to test 150 km range, tactical missile ‘Prahaar’

Hyderabad: A totally new, quick-reaction, short-range, tactical, surface-to-surface missile (SSM), designed to fill in gaps between longer range missile systems and short range rocket artillery is all set for its first flight test on 17 July. According to senior defence officials, the 150 km-range 'Prahaar (Strike)' missile would replace unguided rockets.

According to the scientific adviser to the defence minister and director general, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Dr VK Saraswat,  the 150 km-range missile ''is going to be an excellent weapon.''

Dr Saraswat was speaking to the media after inaugurating a new facility of Analogic Controls India Ltd. (ACIL), a facility that will manufacture electronic systems for mission critical defence and space applications.

Talking to journalists, Dr. Saraswat said Prahaar would bridge the gap between the Pinaka, a 40-km range multi-barrel rocket system and the 350-km Prithvi-II, which had been converted into a strategic missile.

India had also imported unguided rockets of 90-km range from Russia.

Dr. Saraswat said the missile would be equipped with omni-directional warheads and could be used for hitting both tactical and strategic targets. The road-mobile system could be pulled out for quick deployment with each launcher carrying six missiles. ''With different types of warheads, you can have different types of missiles from the same launcher,'' he added.