Indian Army To Conduct User Test Trial of Prithvi Missile This Week

Indian Army To Conduct User Test Trial of Prithvi Missile This Week


Close on the heels of the successful test-firing of the Agni-III and Brahmos missiles, yet another "user's test" of the army version of the Prithvi missile is likely to take place from the Interim Test Range at Chandipur near here next week.As Prithvi had gone into production, one of the products from the assembly line picked up at random might be test fired but whether it would have a payload or not was not known, sources said. Scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and army personnel had already arrived at the ITR for the purpose.The army has also set up two separate missile groups, regiments 333 and 355, for handling the missile. The over four tonne missile will have a range of about 150 km and carry a payload of 500 kg, the sources said. It is mostly fired from mobile launchers. The Prithvi missile (from Sanskrit pṛthvī "Earth") is the tactical surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) developed by India under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. The Prithvi was India's first ingeniously developed ballistic missile. Development of the Prithvi began in 1983, and it was first test-fired on February 25, 1988. It has a range of up to 150 to 300 km. The land variant is called Prithvi while the naval operational variant of Prithvi I and Prithvi II class missiles are codenamed Dhanush (meaning Bow). Both variants are used for surface targets.The Prithvi is said to have its propulsion technology derived from the Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missile. Variants make use of either liquid or both liquid and solid fuels. Developed as a battlefield missile, it could carry a nuclear warhead in its role as a tactical nuclear weapon.Variants of PrithviThe Prithvi missile project encompassed developing three variants for use by the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. The initial project framework of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program outlines the variants in the following manner.* Prithvi I - Army Version (150km range with a payload of 1,000kg)* Prithvi II - Air Force Version (250km range with a payload of 500kg)* Prithvi III - Naval Version (350km range with a payload of 500kg)Over the years these specifications underwent a number of changes. While the codename Prithvi stands for any missile inducted by India into its armed forces in this category, the later developmental versions are codenamed as Prithvi II and Prithvi III. The induction of Prithvi I class of missiles happened in 1994 and the armed forces are in the process of inducting the extended range, Prithvi II class of missiles as of 2006.Prithvi IPrithvi I class was a single stage liquid-fuelled surface-to-surface missile having a maximum warhead mounting capability of 1000 kg, with a range of 150 km. It has an accuracy of 10 - 50 metres and can be launched from Transporter erector launchers. This class of Prithvi missile was inducted into the Indian Army in 1994.Prithvi IIPrithvi II class is also a single stage liquid-fuelled missile having a maximum warhead mounting capability of 1000kg, but with an extended range of 250 kilometres (155 statute miles). It was developed with the Indian Air Force being the primary user. It was first test-fired on January 27, 1996 and the development stages were completed in 2004. The Prithvi II class of missiles are in the process of induction by the Indian Airforce.Prithvi IIIPrithvi III class (codenamed Sagarika meaning Oceanic) is a two-stage surface-to-surface missile in the developmental stages. The first stage is solid fuelled with a 16 metric ton force (157 kN) thrust motor. The second stage is liquid fuelled. The missile can carry a 1000 kg warhead to a distance of 350 km and a 500 kg warhead to a distance of 600 kilometres and a 250 kilogram warhead up to a distance of 750 kilometres. The design is developed while keeping the navy in mind.Sagarika will be a nuclear-capable, cruise missile, capable of being mounted in ships or submarines. Considering the upward capability developments, Prithvi class of missiles could be reclassified from short-range ballistic missile to a medium range ballistic missile. The current codename of the operational variant Dhanush could pave way for the new codename Sagarika as Sagarika becomes operational. Dhanush was successfully tested on March 30, 2007. Sagarika will be inducted into the Advanced Technology Vessel being developed for Indian Navy.There were a number of shortcoming in the initial version of Prithvi missiles namely, High circular error probability (CEP) of around 500 meters and volatility of the liquid-fuelled propulsion system requiring fuelling only just before launching. These shortcomings are being overcome in the latest developmental versions by incorporating of global positioning system (GPS) into the missiles to reduce the CEP to as low as 75 meters and use of solid fuel in the propulsion system.