<div>India Monday successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile from a military base in Odisha, a senior defence official said.<div><br />The indigenously-developed ballistic missile with a range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar.</div><div><br />The launch was carried out at 9.20 a.m. by a missile unit of the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian armed forces, as part of a regular training exercise.</div><div><br />"The missile reached the pre-defined target in the Bay of Bengal with a very high accuracy -- of a few metres," test range director M.V.K.V. Prasad told IANS. "The test was a hundred percent success," he said.</div><div><br />Prithvi is India's first indigenously-built ballistic missile. It is one of the five missiles being developed under the country's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.</div><div><br />The battlefield missile, with flight duration of 483 seconds reaching a peak altitude of 43.5 km, has the capability to carry a 500-kg warhead.</div><div><br />The missile has features to deceive anti-ballistic missiles and uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring capabilities and reaches its target with a few metres of accuracy.</div><div><br />It has higher lethal effect compared to any equivalent class of missiles in the world. Scientists say the accuracy has already been demonstrated in the past in the development flight trials.</div><div>Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesperson Ravi Kumar Gupta called it "a perfect text-book launch". </div><div><br />"The missile achieved all its targeting and technical parameters, set out for this launch," he said. </div><div><br />The missile trajectory was tracked by the DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha.</div><div><br />The downrange teams onboard the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal had monitored the terminal events and splashdown, he added.</div><div><br />A Strategic Forces Command (SFC) spokesman said: "Such successful training launches clearly indicate our operational readiness to meet any eventuality as also establishes, the reliability of this deterrent component of India's strategic arsenal." </div><div><br />Army officials and scientists of the premier Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) witnessed the latest test. </div><div><br />Defence Minister A.K. Antony has congratulated the Prithvi-II team for the success.</div><div><br /></div></div>
<div>India Monday successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile from a military base in Odisha, a senior defence official said.<div><br />The indigenously-developed ballistic missile with a range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar.</div><div><br />The launch was carried out at 9.20 a.m. by a missile unit of the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian armed forces, as part of a regular training exercise.</div><div><br />"The missile reached the pre-defined target in the Bay of Bengal with a very high accuracy -- of a few metres," test range director M.V.K.V. Prasad told IANS. "The test was a hundred percent success," he said.</div><div><br />Prithvi is India's first indigenously-built ballistic missile. It is one of the five missiles being developed under the country's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.</div><div><br />The battlefield missile, with flight duration of 483 seconds reaching a peak altitude of 43.5 km, has the capability to carry a 500-kg warhead.</div><div><br />The missile has features to deceive anti-ballistic missiles and uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring capabilities and reaches its target with a few metres of accuracy.</div><div><br />It has higher lethal effect compared to any equivalent class of missiles in the world. Scientists say the accuracy has already been demonstrated in the past in the development flight trials.</div><div>Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesperson Ravi Kumar Gupta called it "a perfect text-book launch". </div><div><br />"The missile achieved all its targeting and technical parameters, set out for this launch," he said. </div><div><br />The missile trajectory was tracked by the DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha.</div><div><br />The downrange teams onboard the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal had monitored the terminal events and splashdown, he added.</div><div><br />A Strategic Forces Command (SFC) spokesman said: "Such successful training launches clearly indicate our operational readiness to meet any eventuality as also establishes, the reliability of this deterrent component of India's strategic arsenal." </div><div><br />Army officials and scientists of the premier Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) witnessed the latest test. </div><div><br />Defence Minister A.K. Antony has congratulated the Prithvi-II team for the success.</div><div><br /></div></div>