Alwaght- India successfully test-fired on Friday its home-made, nuclear-capable Prithvi-II ballistic missile off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha.
An Indian military source said, “The test-firing of the surface-to-surface missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near the state's Balasore district around 10 a.m. (local time) was actually part of user trial by the India Army.”
The sleek missile is handled by the strategic force command and the test-firing was conducted in order to gauge the effectiveness of the weapon in a real-time situation, sources said.
"Scientists of the state-owned Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) supervised the test-firing while Teams on board a ship deployed in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown," sources added.
Prithvi-II, the first ballistic missile developed under the country's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Program, has the capability to carry over 500 kg of warheads with a strike range of 350 km. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with maneuvering trajectory.
The missile, capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads, has a length of 9 meters and is 1 meter in diameter with liquid propulsion twin engine. The missile test is likely to heighten long-running tension between India and Pakistan with Islamabad expected to conduct a counter test as has been the case previously.
The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. Both nations have been developing missiles of varying ranges since they conducted nuclear tests in May 1998.
Meanwhile, the test comes hours after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin revealed that India is planning to buy several regiment sets of Russia's advanced S-400 air defense systems.
