200 km-ballistic missile 'Pranash' to be the latest addition to India's military arsenal

Written By DNA Web Team | Updated: Feb 09, 2020, 11:46 PM IST

The missile testing will be conducted in the next couple of years, sources added.

In the latest upgrade to India's military arsenal, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has started working on developing on a 200 km-strike range ballistic missile titled 'Pranash'. The missile will be the latest addition to the firepower of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF), replacing the 'Prahaar' missile. The 150 km-strike range ballistic missile 'Prahar' was itself a replacement of the 'Prithvi' ballistic missile.

According to a Defence official, the missile would be armed with conventional warheads. "The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has started working on the development of the 200-km strike range Pranash ballistic missile which would be armed with conventional warheads," said the Defence official.

The missile testing will be conducted in the next couple of years, the sources added.

The single-stage solid-propellant missile would also be readied for exports to friendly foreign countries as its strike range is within the permissible limits of international regimes on missile sales.

On February 26, India had successfully test-fired two Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) from a test range along the Odisha coast. The missile was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in association with Bharat Electronics Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited for the Indian Army is an indigenously developed all-weather weapon system has a strike range of 25 km to 30 km and designed to be a quick reaction missile capable of tracking and firing.

The older version of 'Pranash', titled 'Prahaar', was test-fired successfully on July 21, 2011, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur.

During the test, the missile travelled a distance of 150 km (93 mi) in about 250 seconds. It was made to fill the gap between the 90 km-range of the Smerch multi-barrel rocket launchers and guided missiles like `Prithvi`, which can strike at 250 km to 350 km range.