The liquid-propelled Prithvi-2, powered by liquid propulsion twin engines, has a range of 350 km and can carry 500 to 1,000 kg of warheads. The 9-metre tall missile is the first to have been developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. It is India’s first indigenous surface-to-surface strategic missile.

The trajectory of the missiles was tracked by a battery of long-range, multi-function radars and electro-optic telemetry stations at different locations.

This was the second night trial of Prithvi-2 in less than three weeks. The DRDO had quietly carried out another round of night trial of the nuclear missile on 27 September.

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The state-of-the-art missile uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target.

In the past too, the Strategic Force Command of the armed forces has executed night trials under the watch of DRDO scientists as part of a training exercise. The missile has already been deployed.

Earlier, on 23 September, the Strategic Forces Command had successfully conducted a night trial of the missile from a Mobile Tatra transporter-erector Launcher (MTL). The  short-range surface-to-surface missile was test fired from the launching complex III (LC-III) of the Integrated Test Range (ITR).

Guided all through by an inertial navigation system and controlled by the thrust vector control and aero-dynamic control systems, the missile reached the predefined target in the Bay of Bengal with a very high accuracy of better than 10 meters. All the radars, electro-optical systems located along the coast have tracked and monitored all the parameters of the missile throughout the flight path.

Equipped with a state of the art guidance system the indigenously developed missile was fired in a real-time in full operational configurations..

The nine meter long missile with a diameter of one metre has the capability to carry one tonne of warhead. The missile thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engine uses an inertial guidance system while the warhead uses a radar correlation terminal guidance system.

The night trials of Prithvi were significant as the missiles fired in the dark are difficult to be tracked and shot down. Prithvi-II, capable of attacking targets at a range of 350 km, is India’s first developed and inducted indigenous surface-to-surface strategic missile.

Already inducted into the armoury of the defence forces in 2003, nine-metre long ‘Prithvi’ was the first missile to have been developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). It is in series of production since then.

The previous test of Prithvi-II missile was conducted successfully from the ITR on November 20, 2019.

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According to top missile experts, Shaurya is a delivery system stored in a composite canister for rapid deployment and minimum interaction with the elements for a long period. The strategic missile flies at a supersonic speed of Mach 7, or 2.4 km per second, at a height of 50 km (within atmosphere) and hits the designated target at Mach 4.

The missile will be soon deployed at locations identified by the Indian Strategic Forces Command under guidance from National Security Council. The missile has a warhead weighing around 160 kg.

K-5 for Arihant

While the Modi government’s decision to go for a land version is significant as the missile can be launched by a single vehicle, the DRDO is also making rapid strides in the development of a 5,000 km version of the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). With a range equivalent to Agni-5 land-based ballistic missile, the K-5 will be deployed on Arihant class of nuclear submarines.

While missile scientists are tight-lipped about the K-5 SLBM, the weapon system is expected to be tested in the next 15 months and then deployed on the 6,000-tonne Arihant class of SSBNs. The second Arihant-class nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arighat, is to be operationalised within the next six months.

Simultaneous Tests

The consecutive testing of hypersonic missile (September 7), Shaurya missile (October 3) and supersonic missile assisted release of torpedo (October 5) by DRDO from Balasore are clear signals from the government to the country’s adversary that India will not cow down to any coercion. The 800 km-range subsonic Nirbhay cruise missile will be tested in the next couple of weeks and will be inducted into the Indian Army and Navy. The tactical missile has already been deployed in limited numbers in response to the Chinese build-up in Tibet and Xinjiang.

Coming at a time when India is engaged with a belligerent Chinese Army in Ladakh sector, a senior government official said the testing and deployment of short-range delivery platforms clearly conveys Modi Government’s intention of not backing down to any aggression or cartographical expansion plan of any adversary in the neighbourhood.

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