BHUBANESWAR (TIP): India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile from a military base in Odisha on March 28, a senior official said. The indigenouslydeveloped ballistic missile with a maximum range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar.

“It was a perfect launch. It met all mission objectives,” test range director M V K V Prasad said. The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army conducted the test as part of a regular training exercise,” he said. Prithvi is India’s first indigenouslybuilt 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 antiballistic 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.