Prithvi-II successfully test-fired off Orissa coast

Mangalore Today News Network

Balasore, Jun 18: The Indian army successfully test fired ballistic missile Prithvi-II from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur on Friday, Jun 18 morning.

The missile mounted on a mobile launcher was blasted off from the launch complex-3 in the ITR at around 6:50am, defence sources said.

"The trial of Prithvi-II, conducted by the Army, has gone through nicely," ITR director S P Dash said.

With a maximum striking range of 350 km, Prithvi-II is capable of carrying a pay-load of 500 kg.

The test firing of the surface-to-surface missile, which has already been inducted into Indian armed forces, was a users trial by the Army’s specialised group "strategic force command" (SFC), the sources said.

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 of Friday’s trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars and electro-optic telemetry stations positioned in different locations for the post-launch analysis, the sources said.

The trial was conducted in the presence of Army officials and scientists as part of an exercise to well acquaint the personnel with various aspects of the sophisticated missile, they said.

The last trial of the Prithvi-II missile was successfully conducted from the same site on March 27, 2010.