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India test-fires Prithvi missile

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, June 12, IRNA
India-Missile-Test-fire

Prithvi, India's most sophisticated surface-to-surface missile, was test-fired on Sunday at 13:40 hours from a range at Chandipur-on-sea, near Balasore, to further fine-tune the missile's delivery system.

Scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), who conducted the test with Army personnel at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), described it as a "user trial," media reports said here.

Prithvi's trial was tracked by a sophisticated optical tracking telescope, different telemetry stations and a naval vessel positioned in the Bay of Bengal close to the point of impact.

Considered a world-class medium-range missile, Prithvi has a strike range of 150 kilometers or more and has been inducted into the armed forces.

The Army had raised two specially trained missile groups, 333 and 355, to handle it.

The 8.56-meter-long missile is part of India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.

The other four missiles developed under this program are Agni, Akash, Trishul and Nag.

Prithvi, which has a launch weight of 4.6 tons, can carry a one- ton conventional or nuclear payload, the sources said.

The missile, with latest onboard computers and an advanced inertial navigation system, can use both solid and liquid
propellants.

The Army variant of the missile can cover 150 kilometers in 300 seconds.

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