Nuclear-capable missile Prithvi II successfully test-fired in Odisha

New Delhi, June 27: Strategic Forces Command (SFC) carried out successful night-firing test of a nuclear-capable missile Prithvi-II off the coast of Odisha on Thursday.

The trial of the surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from a mobile launcher from Launch Complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, near here, at around 8.30 pm, sources said.

Prithvi-II was also successfully test-fired at night on February 21, 2018 from the ITR at Chandipur.

The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activity was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army and monitored by the scientists of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of a training exercise.

All the strategic missiles of the country are controlled by the Tri-Services SFC.

On November 21, 2016, two missiles were successfully test-fired in the salvo mode from the same base.

Inducted into the armory of the Indian defence forces in 2003, the nine-metre-tall, single-stage liquid-fuelled Prithvi is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).