Pralay missile. Photo: DRDO)
New Delhi: Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) conducted two consecutive successful flight-tests of India’s first indigenously developed tactical quasi-ballistic missile – Pralay from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha on Monday and Tuesday.
The flight tests were carried out as a part of user-evaluation trials to validate the maximum and minimum range capability of the missile system.
The missiles precisely followed the intended trajectory and reached the target point with “pin-point accuracy” and met all the test objectives, officials said.
The flight tests were witnessed by senior scientists of DRDO, representatives of the users from the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army as well as the industry representatives.
The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, has complimented DRDO, the armed forces and the industry for the successful test-flights. The missile equipped with modern technologies will give further technological boost to the armed forces against threats, he said.
Dr Samir V Kamat, who is the secretary of Department of Defence (R&D) and chairman of the DRDO, congratulated the teams. He said the successful completion of this Phase-1 flight tests paves the way for induction of the system into the armed forces in near future.
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They added that all subsystems performed as per expectations, which were verified using test data captured by various tracking sensors deployed by Integrated Test Range (ITR) including instruments deployed on ship positioned near the designated impact point.
All about Pralay missile
An indigenously developed solid-propellant quasi-ballistic missile, Pralay employs state-of-the-art guidance and navigation to ensure high precision. The missile was first showcased at the 2025 Republic Day parade in New Delhi.
Alongside the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, Pralay is expected to play a key role in India’s planned Rocket Force. It is reportedly comparable to China’s Dong Feng 12 and Russia’s Iskander missile.
A short-range, surface-to-surface weapon with a payload capacity ranging from 500 to 1,000 kilograms, the Pralay missile boasts an operational range of 150 to 500 kilometres.
Capable of carrying multiple types of warheads, including conventional and nuclear against various targets, the Pralay e-system has been developed by Research Centre Imarat in collaboration other DRDO labs – Defence Research & Development Laboratory, Advanced Systems Laboratory, Armament Research & Development Establishment, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, Research & Development Establishment (Engineers) and ITR etc; industry partners - Bharat Dynamics Limited & Bharat Electronics Limited and many other industries and MSMEs.
Developed as a canisterized system, the Pralay missile was specifically designed to meet the Indian Army's requirements for a tactical conventional missile suitable for battlefield use.
Sanctioned in 2015, the Pralay missile project, is derived from the earlier Prahaar missile programme, which was first tested in 2011.
