India test-fires Prithvi-II missile in salvo mode trial
21 Nov 2016
India on Monday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed long-range surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile twice in quick succession, as part of a user trial by the Army.
The surface-to-surface missiles, which have a strike range of 350km and are capable of carrying warheads of up to 1,000 kg in salvo mode, was test-fired from a mobile launcher from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha.
The two surface-to-surface missiles were fired in quick succession from a mobile launcher at the launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at around 9.35 am, defence sources said.
DRDO had conducted a similar twin-trial on 12 October 2009, from the same base where both tests were successful.
The missile is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines and uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target, defence sources said.
The missiles were randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activities were carried out by the specially formed strategic forces command and monitored by the scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise, a defence scientist said.
DRDO radars and electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha tracked the missile trajectory while the downrange teams on board the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown.
Inducted into Indian armed forces in 2003, the nine-metre-tall, single-stage liquid-fuelled Prithvi-II is the first missile to be developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, defence sources said.
