Pralay Missile

Why in News?

• The Ministry of Defense has recently procured indigenous Short-Range Ballistic Surface-to-Surface (SRBM) Missile Pralay, giving Indian military the heft to its war-fighting capabilities

Highlights

• Pralay’ is India’s first conventional quasi-ballistic missile and is an answer to any conventional missile attack from northern or western borders.
• A quasi-ballistic missile has a low trajectory, and while it is largely ballistic, it can maneuver in flight.
• Ballistic missiles are initially powered by a rocket or series of rockets in stages, but then follow an unpowered trajectory that arches upwards before descending to reach its intended target at high speed.
• The missile has been developed in a way that it is able to defeat the interceptor missiles and also has the ability to change its path after covering a certain range mid-air.
• It Is powered with a solid propellant rocket motor and many new technologies.
• The missile guidance system includes state-of-the-art navigation system and integrated avionics.
• It can be compared to China’s Dong Feng 12 and the Russian Iskander missile that has been used in the ongoing war with Ukraine.
• It is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of about 350 kg to 700 kg, which gives it a deadly punitive capability.
• It can carry a high explosive preformed fragmentation warhead, penetration-cum-blast (PCB) and runaway denial penetration submunition (RDPS).
• It is powered with a solid propellant rocket motor and many new technologies.
• The missile guidance system includes state-of-the-art navigation system and integrated avionics.
• It can be compared to China’s Dong Feng 12 and the Russian Iskander missile that has been used in the ongoing war with Ukraine.
• It is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of about 350 kg to 700 kg, which gives it a deadly punitive capability.
• It can carry a high explosive preformed fragmentation warhead, penetration-cum-blast (PCB) and runaway denial penetration submunition (RDPS).
• It Is India’s first tactical quasi-ballistic missile and will give the armed forces the capability to hit enemy positions and key installations in actual battlefield areas.
• Pralay, along with the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, will form the crux of India’s planned Rocket Force.
• It will completely change the tactical battlefield dynamics and India will have two conventional missiles with long range.