Defence services plan to acquire around 250 more 'Pralay' ballistic missiles

New Delhi, Apr 16: In a giant leap towards creating a strong rocket force to tackle the threat from the northern borders, Indian defence forces are set to place orders for two more units of the Pralay ballistic missiles at the cost of over Rs 7,500 crore.

 

 

 

The move comes after the Defence Ministry in December last year cleared one unit of these missiles for the Indian Air Force. Two more units of the Pralay ballistic missiles are going to be acquired for the defence forces, which are on their way towards creating a Rocket force including assets of all three forces. The proposal for the acquisition of these missiles for ground forces is at an advanced stage and is expected to be cleared soon.

 

 

 

 

 

The Pralay ballistic missiles can take out targets at 150 to 500 kms and are extremely difficult to intercept for the enemy through interceptor missiles. Work is also on to increase the range of these missiles by another few hundred kilometres to give a stronger capability to forces. Both China and Pakistan have ballistic missiles which are for tactical roles. The missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation is being further developed.

 

 

The missile system started getting development around 2015 and the development of such a capability was given a push by the late Gen Bipin Rawat as Chief of Army Staff. The missile was successfully tested twice on consecutive days last year on Dec 21 and Dec 22 in 2021. A quasi-ballistic surface-to-surface missile, 'Pralay' has been developed in a way to be able to defeat interceptor missiles. It has the ability to change its path after covering a certain range in midair.

 

 

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