The first successful test flight of short-range surface-to-surface Pralay ballistic missile was conducted consecutively on 22-23 December by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
While it is largely ballistic, it can manoeuvre in flight. The missile has a range of 150-500 kilometres with accuracy of less than 10 metres and has been developed according to specifications given by eventual user, the Army. “The new missile followed the desired quasi-ballistic trajectory and reached the designated target with high-degree accuracy, validating the control, guidance and mission algorithms,” said the ministry of defence (MoD) in a press statement.
The DRDO started working on the project to develop a short-range solid-fuel surface-to-surface missile, sometime around 2015. The missile was subsequently christened Pralay.
The missile, which can be launched from a mobile launcher, has a guidance system that includes state-of-the-art navigation mechanisms and integrated avionics. The missile is powered with a solid propellant rocket motor and multiple new technologies.
Game-changer
The missile will be part of the Artillery Corps of the Army. The missile is yet to be inducted since a greater range was sought. Pralay will be the longest-range surface-to-surface missile in the inventory of the Army, which will give a fillip to their operational plans. The Army also has the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in its arsenal, with a stated range of 290-plus kilometres. It will completely change the tactical battlefield dynamics and India will have two conventional missiles with long range.
While cruise missiles have high agility, stealth and even loitering capability, ballistic missiles have the advantage of speed and countering them is a very difficult task even for modern air defence systems.
Pralay missile project was sanctioned in 2015 and is a derivative of the Prahaar missile programme, which was first tested in 2011.
Possible Uses
DRDO officials have categorically stated that the Pralay will not be part of India’s nuclear deterrent. Instead, like the earlier Shourya and Prahar missiles, the Pralay is powered by conventional solid fuel, and its payload is designed to carry only a conventional warhead.
The development of the new missiles had multiple objectives. These include bridging the range gap between the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) system and the Prithvi missiles.
The indigenous Pinaka MBRL strikes targets up to 60-70 km from the launchers; while variants of the Prithvi missile can flatten objectives 250-350 km away. The territory between them, where key targets will be located in wartime, will be engaged by the Shourya, Prahar and Pralay missile systems.
The Prahar can strike all three of the Pakistan Army’s service headquarters and four of its nine corps headquarters, which are all located within 150 kilometers of the border. So are two of the Pakistan Air Force’s eleven “deploying bases,” as well as its joint staff and the Strategic Plans Division that controls Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
The Shourya missile, a land-based version of the Indian Navy’s underwater Sagarika missile, with a range of 750 km, can reach every one of Pakistan’s 20 largest cities, all of the Pakistan Air Force’s flying bases, every corps command location, and the Pakistan Navy’s two most important ports, Karachi and Ormara.
Speculation continues about a possible nuclear role for the three missiles. These are fuelled partially by reports that Prahar missiles are being manufactured and inducted into service to replace all of India’s 150-kilometer Prithvi ballistic missiles — which were themselves deemed to be dual-use weapons.
