Neeraj Thakur
New Delhi: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested the Pralay quasi-ballistic missile from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast on Thursday, the defence ministry said.
The missile was launched at about 11.10am. According to the ministry, all test objectives were fully met, as confirmed by data captured by range instruments deployed by the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.
The Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in Hyderabad developed the missile indigenously, working with other DRDO laboratories. Bharat Dynamics Limited, one of the development-cum-production partners, built the system.
Senior DRDO officials, industry representatives and members of the armed forces watched the launch. The test formed part of the user evaluation trials, which the armed forces conduct before accepting a system. The ministry said the successful outcome made the missile's induction imminent.
The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, complimented DRDO, the armed forces and industry partners. He said the missile, equipped with advanced technologies, would strengthen the military's technological capabilities and operational preparedness against emerging threats.
The defence secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, who is also the secretary of the Department of Defence Research and Development and the chairman of DRDO, congratulated the teams involved in the test.
Background
Pralay is a solid-propellant, surface-to-surface missile. As a quasi-ballistic weapon, it flies a lower, flatter trajectory than a conventional ballistic missile and can manoeuvre in flight, which makes interception harder for missile-defence systems.
Publicly available accounts put its range at roughly 150 km to 500 km, with a conventional warhead of 500 kg to 1,000 kg. It is generally understood to share propulsion heritage with the Prithvi family of missiles.
DRDO first tested the missile in December 2021 and has carried out several launches since, including salvo firings from the same Odisha coast in July 2025. Reports have said that both the Army and the Air Force plan to induct the system, though official numbers have not been made public.
