India carries out user trial of 350-km Prithvi-II missile
19 Feb 2015
India on Thursday conducted a successful test-firing of the indigenously-developed surface-to-surface ballistic missile Prithvi-II from a test range in Odisha.
The test-firing, part of the missile's user trials, was carried out from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar.
The test-firing was carried out from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the ITR at about 9.20 a.m.
The missile, which has a firing range of 350 km, is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads.
"It was a user trial by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army. The test was successful. It met all mission objectives," DRDO's test range director MVKV Prasad said.
Prithvi-II has liquid propulsion twin engines and uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvrings trajectory.
''The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activities were carried out by the specially formed SFC and monitored by the scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise,'' a defence scientist said.
''The missile trajectory was tracked by DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha,'' sources said.
''The downrange teams on board the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown,'' they said.
The Prithvi II missile, the first missile to be developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP), was inducted into the SFC in 2003, defence sources said.
The user trials are part of training launches to ensure operational readiness to meet any eventuality and to establish the reliability of the missile, they said.
