Prahar, a short-range surface-to-surface missile developed by Defense Research and Development Organization was successfully test-fired this morning from the Integrated Test Range in Balasore district in its maiden launch.
This single stage missile with a range of 150 km and fuelled by solid propellants took off at 8.15 am from a road mobile launcher in Launch Complex 3 of ITR in Chandipur of Balasore district. A DRDO scientist declared Thursday's test as successful.
Like Pinaka missile, a multiple-rocket system, several Prahar missile can be fired in one salvo. But for Thursday's test, only one missile was fired.
DRDO sources said Prahar (meaning to strike) with greater accuracy than the unguided missiles currently being used by the Indian Army will fill the gap between Pinaka, the multi-barrel rocket system, which has a range of 45 km and the Prithvi missile that can attack targets 250 km to 350 km away. Prahar can image, take out multiple targets and can be moved to any place. It can carry conventional warheads. It will be a road-mobile weapon—similar to the BrahMos supersonic multi-role cruise missile—with each motorized transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) carrying six canister, vertically-launched missiles armed with conventional warheads. A separate wheeled vehicle is being developed to act as a missile resupply station, carrying six canister missile rounds.
The missile fills the short range tactical battlefield missile role as required by the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force, to take out strategic and tactical targets. The mobile launch platform will carry six missile which can have different kind of warheads meant for different targets. This solid fueled missile can be launched within 2-3 minutes without any preparation providing significantly better reaction time than liquid fueled Prithvi ballistic missiles and act as a gap filler in the 150 km range, between the pinaka MBRL and smerch MBRL in one end and the Prithvi ballistic missiles on the other. Prahaar may replace Smerch systems in service with the Indian Army. Prahar was test-fired successfully on 21st July 2011 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur. During the test Prahar traveled an distance of 150 km in about 250 seconds[ meeting all launch objectives and striking pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal with a high degree of accuracy of less than 10 meters.
