India: N-capable missile test fired for second time

On Tuesday 8th, India has successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile from a military base in Odisha for the second time in two days, a senior defence official said.

The indigenously-developed ballistic missile with a maximum range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar. The missile was earlier successfully tested from the same defence base on Monday 7th.

Prithvi is India's first indigenously-built ballistic missile and 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 reaching a peak altitude of 43.5 km, can carry a 500-kg warhead with a higher lethal effect compared to equivalent competitors in the world.

Last but not least, the missile has features to deceive anti-ballistic missiles and uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring capabilities allowing it to reach its target within a few metres of accuracy.