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 Ministry of Defence 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,” Defence sources told ANI.
The proposal for the acquisition of these missiles for ground forces is at an advanced stage and is expected to be cleared soon, they said.
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, the sources said.
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 sources said.
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 December 21 and December 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.
‘Pralay’ is powered by a solid propellant rocket motor and other new technologies. The missile guidance system includes state-of-the-art navigation and integrated avionics.
The missile would be first inducted into the Indian Air Force and would be followed by the Indian Army.