India test-fires nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile from Odisha

India on Tuesday successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile from a military base in Odisha for the third time within two months, a senior official said.

The indigenously-developed ballistic missile with a maximum range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar.

“The mission was hundred percent success. It met all mission objectives,” test range Director MVKV. Prasad said.

The test was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) as part of a regular training exercise, he said.

The missile was earlier successfully tested by SFC from the same defence base Oct 7 and Oct 8.

Prithvi is India’s first indigenously-built ballistic missile. It is one of the five missiles being developed under the country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

The battlefield missile, with flight duration of 483 seconds and a peak altitude of 43.5 km, can carry a 500-kg warhead.

The missile has features to deceive anti-ballistic missiles and uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring capabilities and reaches its target within a few metres of accuracy.

It has a higher lethal effect compared to equivalent missiles in the world. Scientists say the accuracy has already been demonstrated in the past in the development flight trials.