JOIN USIndia on Friday successfully test-fired its indigenously-developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II and Dhanush ballistic missiles in separate trials, boosting the armed forces’ operational readiness.
The day began with the test-firing of its Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, from a test range at Chandipur near here at abour 10:40 am as part of a user trial by Army.
Nine hours later, Dhanush, also a surface-to-surface missile and a naval variant of Prithvi, was test-fired from a ship in the Bay of Bengal at around 7:40 pm by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the defence force.
Defence sources said the state-of-the-art Prithiv-II missile, which is capable of carrying 500 to 1,000 kg of warheads, was test-fired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of Integrated Test Range.
Describing the trial as “fully successful,” ITR Director M V K V Prasad said the test was conducted by Strategic Force Command.
The sophisticated missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activities were carried out by SFC and monitored by scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise, defence sources said.
“The missile trajectory was tracked by DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha.