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The Hindu : News / National : Maiden test of Prahaar successful
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The maiden flight test of
‘Prahaar’, a quick-reaction, short
range tactical missile with a
range of 150 km, was
successfully conducted on
Thursday morning from the
Integrated Test Range (ITR) at
Chanidpur, Orissa.
The test was carried out at 8.15
a.m. from Launch Complex-III at
ITR by missile scientists of the
Defence Research and
Development Organisation
(DRDO), which designed and
developed the weapon system to
replace unguided rockets of
short range and meet the
services requirement for such a
battlefield weapon system.
DRDO sources told The HIndu
soon after the launch that the
mission was a success and met
all the objectives. The single-
stage, solid-fuelled missile zeroed
in onto the pre-designated target
in the Bay of Bengal with a high
degree of accuracy. All the
radars, electro-optical systems
and telemetry stations, besides a
ship located in the vicinity
recorded the entire event.
The new system will be initially
made operational in the Army. It
will replace the unguided Pinaka
multi-barrel rocket launcher (40
km range) and Smerch (90 km)
rocket systems.
Scientific Advisor Defence
Minister, V.K. Saraswat, who
witnessed the launch, said that
the 7.8 metre long missile
weighing 1.2 tonnes had high
manoeuvrability and acceleration
and could be quickly deployed in
any terrain by a road mobile
launcher. Each launcher will
carry six missiles.
Designed to carry omni-
directional warheads, Prahaar
could be used for hitting both
strategic and tactical warheads.