Nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile test-fired

Hyderabad, February 19, 2015 (Agency)  India on Thursday successfully test-fired nuclear weapons capable, surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile for a shortened range of 250 km as against its full range of 350 km from Chandipur in Balasore district, Odisha.The indigenously-developed missile was launched by personnel of Strategic Forces Command (SFC) from a road mobile launcher at around 9.15 am. The missile after a flight duration of nearly seven minutes splashed down near the pre-designated target point in the Bay of Bengal with a high degree of accuracy, according to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)missile scientists.“ We have also test- flown two indigenously developed radar transponders for S band and



C band in the missile and they were successfully validated”, said one of the scientists. He said the two transponders could be used for bigger missiles in future.Carrying a dummy payload weighing 500 kg, the missile met all the mission objectives. The entire mission was carried out by SFC personnel as part of regular training.All the radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations along the East Coast monitored the trajectory and health of the missile from the launch till its impact, while down a range ship recorded the terminal event.Prithvi-II is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) and has been inducted into the SFC in 2003.