Dhanush, Pritivi-II successfully test-fired in Orissa

Balasore (PTI) Strengthening its
missile prowess, India on Friday successfully test-fired two
indigenously developed, nuclear-capable 'Dhanush' and
'Prithvi-II' ballistic missiles, both having 350 km strike
range, from separate locations off the Orissa coast.
While 'Dhanush' was flight tested from naval vessel
INS SUVARNA in the Bay of Bengal, surface-to-surface
'Prithivi-II' ballistic missile was test-fired within an hour
from Launch Complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR)
at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from here.
"The flight tests were in text book fashion with the
the missiles reaching the target points with high accuracy,"
said ITR Director S P Dash.
"All the radars and electro-optical systems located
along the coast tracked the missiles and monitored the
parameters. The final event was witnessed from a ship located
near the impact point," Dash said.
Indian Defence Minister A K Antony congratulated all
the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO)
scientists, technicians and the armed forces for the
successful tests.
The tests were part of regular training exercise
involving the missiles which are under production after
successful completion of developmental trials. They have
already been inducted by the armed forces, said a
DRDO scientist.
"Both Dhanush and Prithvi missiles were launched by
the Strategic Force Command as part of the regular user
training exercise. The missiles were taken from the storage
depots and launched," said a senior defence official.
The two missiles were test-fired within five days of
the successful demonstration of Ballistic Air Defence Missile
System on March 6, 2011, by DRDO.
"The series of successful launches have boosted the
morale of scientists and armed forces. The missiles have been
integrated under the supervision of Missile Systems Quality
Assurance Agency (MSQAA)," a DRDO release said.
Launch operations of both the missiles were monitored
by Director, DRDL, P Venugopalan, Dash, Programme Director,
VLN Rao and a number of DRDO scientists.
Scientific Advisior to Defence Minister and DRDO chief
V K Saraswat was present at ITR, Balasore.
A similar exercise involving Dhanush and Prithvi-2
missiles was successfully conducted in a "salvo mode" off
Orissa coast on March 27 last year.
Dhanush, also known as the naval version of Prithvi,
is a single-stage missile with liquid propellant. It has a pay
load capacity of 500 kg and is capable of carrying both
nuclear as well as conventional warheads. The missile can hit
both sea and shore-based targets with pin-point accuracy.
It is 10 metre long, one metre in diameter and weighs
six tonnes.
The test-firing of the surface-to-surface missile was
"a routine trial conducted by the personnel of Strategic
Force Command (SFC)", the sources said.
Prithvi was the first missile developed under India's
prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme
(IGMDP). The surface-to-surface missile has proved its
robustness and accuracy repeatedly during many trials
earlier since the first test in 1988.
Prithvi missiles equipped with sophisticated guidance
systems have hit the specified targets with a very high degree
of accuracy.
"Randomly picked up from routine production lot
during earlier users' trial by the army, it had achieved
single digit accuracy reaching close to zero circular error
probability (CEP)," said a defence source.