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India tests nuclear-capable missile
February 19, 2015, 6:06 am

Surface-to-surface ballistic missile Prithvi II lifts off from a road mobile launcher at Chandipur in Odisha [Image: DRDO, India]

Surface-to-surface ballistic missile Prithvi II lifts off from a road mobile launcher at Chandipur in Odisha, India [Image: DRDO, India]

India on Thursday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile with a strike range of 350 km as part of a user trial by the army from a test range in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.

The missile test was carried out from a mobile launcher at about 0920 hrs.

With a strike range of 350 km, Prithvi-II is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvering trajectory.

“The trial of the missile conducted by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) was fully successful,” ITR Director MVKV Prasad was quoted by Press Trust of India.

“The downrange teams on board the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown,” they said.

New Delhi is a top market for defence hardware and India buys about 60 per cent of its arms needs from Russia.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), which monitors arms sales, says India possesses 90-110 nuclear warheads.

India’s defense budget—more than $30 billion last year—is on course to become the fourth-largest in the world behind the US, China and Russia in the next five years, according to IHS Jane’s, a defense publisher.

TBP and Agencies