India on Friday successfully test-fired its 150-250 km range surface-to-surface Prithvi missile, which can carry a pay load of 1000 kg explosives, from the integrated test range at Chandipur.
"The Prithvi missile was test-fired as part of a user's trial by the Indian Army and the test was successful," defence sources said.
The 8.56 metre-long and one metre thick Prithvi missile can carry a pay load of 1000 kg explosives.
The indigenously built missile, developed by the Defence Research Development Organisation, has already been inducted in the army, they said.
"Mounted on a mobile tatra transporter-erector launcher, the sophisticated missile took off vertically at about 1030 hours and plunged into the pre-designated splash-down point in the Bay of Bengal," the sources said.
Powered by liquid propellant, Prithvi can operate with both liquid as well as solid fuel. All parameters of the missile are now being analysed after the successful testfire," said the sources.
Today's test was conducted jointly by DRDO and the special missile regiment raised by the army.
Prithvi has a launch weight of 4.6 tonne, which included a pay load of one tonne. This variant of the missile could take just 300 seconds to reach the target located at a distance of 150 km.
The transporter-mounted missile can be taken close to the forward area over any type of terrain, defence sources said adding the missile has been designed to deliver advanced conventional warheads into enemy territory.
Regarded as a world-class missile in the medium range category, Prithvi has been inducted into the armoury of the defence force in mid 1990s, the sources said.
The user's trial conducted on Friday morning was aimed at further fine tuning the sophisticated missile's delivery, control and guidance system, they said.
The main use of this variant of Prithvi would be in destroying troop concentration, crippling air bases and striking at large static installations and headquarters when required, said a defence analyst.
"It is a reliable, rugged and relatively low cost battlefield missile produced in a short time," sources said.
The first test of the missile was conducted on February 22, 1988, at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh while the last user's trial was conducted from ITR, Chandipur on May 9, 2007.
