Indian Government News, India's most sophisticated medium range surface-to-surface missile 'Prithvi' has been test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore in Orissa.
Mounted on a mobile Tatra Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL), the indigenously developed missile was fired at 10:04 hours in overcast conditions.
Prithvi has already been inducted into the Army and the test undertaken involved one of the products picked up at random from the assembly line.
Scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who, along with personnel of the Indian army, jointly conducted the test, described it as a “user's trial”.
The transporter-mounted missile can be taken close to the forward line over any kind of terrain, defence sources said adding it had been designed to deliver advanced conventional warheads deep into enemy territory.
According to a defence analyst, this version of Prithvi's main use would be in destroying troop concentration, crippling air bases and striking at large static installations and headquarters when required.
It is a reliable, rugged and relatively low cost battlefield missile produced in short time.
Considered to be a world-class missile in the medium range category, Prithvi, with a striking range of over 150 km, had been inducted into the armoury of the defence in 1995.
The Army has a specially trained missile group, 333, to handle it.
User's trial was meant to further fine-tune the missile's delivery, control and guidance system, DRDO sources added.
The missile, weighing 4.6 tonnes, is equipped with an on-board computer and an advanced inertial navigation system and it can use both solid and liquid propellant.
The sources said there had been some improvement in the critical peripheral equipment and DRDO scientists had worked out installing the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the missile to enhance its accuracy.
Scientists are hopeful that the indigenously developed missile's accuracy, technically known as Circular Error Probable (CEP), would be around 10 to 15 metres.
The 8.56 metre high and one metre thick missile, capable of carrying a payload of 1,000 kg, is part of the country's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) the other four missiles being the Agni, Akash, Trishul and Nag.
Sources remarked that this Army variant of Prithvi could take just 300 seconds to reach the target located at a distance of 150 km.
The flight trial of the missile was tracked by a sophisticated system of radars, optical tracking telescope, different telemetry stations and a naval vessel positioned in the Bay of Bengal close to the impact point.
The first test launch of Prithvi was conducted on 22nd February 1988 at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh while the last trial was undertaken from the ITR at Chandipur on 19th November 2006.
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