India Conducts Two Consecutive Trials of New Pralay Surface to Surface Missile
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted two successful flight tests of the Pralay Surface to Surface Missile on July 28 and 29. The tests were conducted from Launch Complex-IV (LC-IV), located on Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha, which is part of the Integrated Test Range (ITR). The Integrated Test Range serves as the test facility for most of India’s missiles that are under development or in service. The flight tests were carried out as part of user evaluation trials to validate the maximum and minimum range capability of the missile system.
The Ministry of Defence in a press release stated:
“The missiles precisely followed the intended trajectory and reached the target point with pin-point accuracy meeting all the test objectives. All subsystems performed as per expectations, which were verified using test data captured by various tracking sensors deployed by Integrated Test Range (ITR) including instruments deployed on ship positioned near the designated impact point.”
About Pralay
Pralay is an indigenously developed solid propellant quasi-ballistic missile employing state-of-the-art guidance and navigation to ensure high precision. The missile was first tested on December 22, 2021, followed shortly by the second test the next day, where it was tested for ‘heavier payload and different range’. The missile has a range of 150-500 kilometres and can be launched from a mobile launcher, which supports the launch of two missiles. The missile is capable of carrying multiple types of warheads against various targets. It shares commonality with missiles like K-15 SLBM and Shaurya SSM, which are already in service with the Strategic Forces Command.
The system has been developed by Research Centre Imarat in collaboration with other DRDO labs – DRDL, ASL, ARDE, HEML, DMRL, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, Research & Development Establishment (Engineers) and ITR, etc. Bharat Dynamics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited are the two major industry partners for the production of Pralay SSM.
Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO, Dr Samir V Kamat, congratulated the teams, stating that the successful completion of this phase-1 flight tests paves the way for induction of the system into the Armed Forces in the near future. Following the completion of Pralay’s development it may become a part of India’s mooted Integrated Rocket Force alongside with Nirbhay, BrahMos, and Pinaka Mk3.