Phailin: no impact on India's key missile launch facilities

Chandipur lies about 300 km north of Gopalpur, where the severe cyclonic storm made landfall on Saturday night packing winds at a speed of over 200 km per hour.

Although Chandipur was not in the path of the storm, armed forces had swung into action to protect their vital assets along the Odisha coast, which also include a naval base at Chilika lake and an air defense training center at Gopalpur.

"All equipment at the missile launch stations in Chandipur and Wheeler Island are safe. Our scientists and personnel are also safe, We hope to carry out the training and missile launches scheduled for November." said an official at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) that manages these sites.

On Saturday, DRDO had secured telemetry equipment and radars deployed along the coastal areas. Such equipment are used by the DRDO for tracking missiles and monitoring the accuracy of a mission. High-speed infrared cameras to capture the sequence of a missile launch at the two facilities were also secured from any potential damage.

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.