India test-fires Prithvi-II missile off Odisha coast

India on Tuesday successfully test-fired the nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipore-on-Sea off the Odisha coast.

The missile was fired at 9.48 a.m. this morning from launch complex number-3 of ITR by the Strategic Force Command personnel of the Indian Army from a road mobile launcher as part of regular training to prove the preparedness of the user.

The missile, which can travel to a distance of between 250 km and 350 km, can carry a nuclear warhead weighing between 500 kg and 1000 kg.

The indigenously-developed Prithvi-II was the first missile to be developed under Defence Research Development Organisation's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and was inducted into the armed forces in 2004.

Its naval version Dhanush has also been inducted into the Indian Navy.

The radars, electro-optical tracking systems along the coast and the telemetry equipment in a downrange ship near the target point monitored the performance of the missile during the flight and recorded the terminal event.