India successfully tested the Pralay ballistic missile for the first time, the third time in a decade that India has conducted a new missile test launch.
On December 22, 2021 the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) announced that it had successfully carried out the first launch test of the new short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Pralay in Orissa. DRDO officials said, “Missiles fly along quasi-ballistics, reach the designated target area with a high degree of accuracy, verify the missile control, guidance and mission algorithms, and all subsystems operate satisfactorily.”
Test three new types of missiles in ten days
According to the Russian satellite news agency, the “Prare” surface-to-surface missile is a solid-fuel missile that adopts a number of new technologies and can be launched mobilely. Its range is between 150-500 kilometers.
DRDO Chairman Dr. Sassish Reddy said that the “Prare” surface-to-surface missile is a new generation of missiles with many advanced technologies, and the installation of this weapon system will push the Indian armed forces forward.
According to the launch video released by DRDO, the “Praley” missile is installed on a launch vehicle, and the missile is launched vertically. According to Indian media, the development of the missile was mainly used to replace the “Earth” series of short-range ballistic missiles from 2015.
Earth missiles are one of the achievements of India’s “Comprehensive Missile Development Plan” in the 1980s. It belongs to short-range tactical ballistic missiles. The active “Earth”-2 missile was first tested in January 1996 and officially equipped with troops since 2003. The missile is 8.56 meters long and has a range of 350 kilometers. It can carry nuclear or conventional warheads.
“As India’s first generation of tactical ballistic missiles, the ‘Earth’-2 missile uses a liquid rocket engine. Fuel needs to be injected before firing. The reaction time is long, and its survivability is lower than that of missiles with solid rocket engines,” Missile Li Wensheng told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn), ” The ‘Praley’ missile uses a solid rocket engine and is installed in the missile launcher, which has better comprehensive performance than the ‘Earth’ missile.
“It is expected that the ‘Prare’ missile will adopt a compound guidance method, and the strike accuracy will be better than that of the ‘Earth’ missile, further enhancing India’s precise strike capability.” Li Wensheng said.
This is the third time that India has organized a test launch of a new missile in ten days.
According to a report on the website of India’s New Delhi Television (ANI) on December 18, DRDO successfully tested a new generation of ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads “Fire”-P on the island of Abdulkalam near the coast of Orissa. This is also India’s second test launch of “Fire”-P. On June 28 this year, the “Fire”-P ballistic missile was successfully launched.
According to the report, various telemetry, radar, electro-optical stations and measuring ships deployed along the East Coast track and monitor the trajectories and parameters of missiles. According to the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization, the second flight test has proved the reliability of all advanced technologies integrated into the system.
Before the test launch of the Fire-P ballistic missile, DRDO successfully tested the ultra-long-range anti-submarine missile (SMART) on December 13.
According to the news released by DRDO, the missile ballistics, firing height, nasal cone separation, torpedo release and deceleration device (VRM) all met expectations. DRDO officials also said, “The system aims to improve the anti-submarine combat capability far beyond the conventional fish laser range, and this successful launch is of great significance for the construction of anti-submarine combat capability.”
Improve the combat effectiveness of missiles as a whole
In the view of missile expert Li Wensheng, three tests of different types of new missiles in ten days indicate that India is accelerating the development plan of a new generation of missile systems, completing the overall upgrading of the missile system, and improving the verification and combat capabilities, long-range conventional precision strikes and multi-tasking execution capabilities of the Indian army.
Among the three tests of different types of new missiles, Li Wensheng believes that “Fire”-P is the most noteworthy missile.
According to Indian media reports, “Fire”-P will be used to replace active “Fire”-1 and “Fire”-2 missiles. Compared with “Fire”-1/2 missiles, “Fire”-P has a variety of advanced new technologies, including the use of composite projectiles, improved solid engines and guidance systems, etc., to further improve performance. Litre.
According to the Indian Ministry of Defense, the Fire-P ballistic missile can carry nuclear warheads and is an improved version of the Fire missile with a range of 1,000 kilometers to 2,000 kilometers.
As a new medium-range missile, Fire-P is regarded by India as a counterattack weapon, which not only has more accurate strike capability, but also is not easy to intercept. Indian media pointed out that the emphasis on accuracy has led some people to regard “Fire-P” as a counterattack weapon. One source said, “If necessary, missiles can even maneuver at a certain moment.” This feature is usually not available in ballistic missiles, so it is more difficult to intercept.
“In recent years, India’s newly developed ballistic missiles have placed more emphasis on rapid response capability, viability and other indicators. For example, these new missiles use launchers and launchers with better mobility. In the past, the ‘Fire’ missile body was exposed and the system integration was also low.” Li Wensheng pointed out.
In recent years, India’s newly developed ballistic missiles have placed more emphasis on indicators such as rapid response capability and viability, and missiles have begun to be equipped with launchers.
According to the introduction of relevant information, the missile launcher is a special cylindrical device for the release and launch of missiles. It is mainly composed of an inner tube, an insulation device and a temperature regulation device. It has the functions of directional, support, vertical, temperature regulation, storage and launch of missiles. There are two main functions of missile launchers: one is to protect the missile; the other is to participate in the missile launch.
Li Wensheng told The Paper that because missiles may bump in transportation, with missile launchers, minor bumps will not affect the missile body, and the launchers are sealed, and most of them also have air conditioning systems, which can ensure that the missile is in a constant temperature and dry environment, which is conducive to missile preservation and conducive to The rapid reaction capability of the missile.
Since 2019, India’s strategic forces began to organize night-time launch training for nuclear missiles, and organized the first night-time test launch of “Fire”-2 and “Fire”-3 missiles to strengthen the deterrence of nuclear forces.
Li Wensheng believes that “Fire”-P missiles equipped with conventional warheads will also play an important role in conventional long-range strikes.
“Because this medium-range ballistic missile can be equipped with conventional warheads and has a strong precision strike capability, some analysts believe that anti-ship ballistic missiles that can strike moving targets at sea will also be derived on the basis of the missile,” Li Wensheng told The Paper. “Therefore, many people call it the Indian version of the Dongfeng-21 missile. .”
The successful test launch of SMART ultra-long-range anti-submarine missiles on the 13th is India’s latest attempt to expand the use of ballistic missiles.
According to a previous report by India Today, SMART is a missile system developed for the Indian navy for anti-submarine warfare, with a range far exceeding that of traditional torpedoes. The missile uses a two-stage solid rocket engine and precision inertial navigation. It adopts land-based maneuvering and adjustable range. After launch, the missile cruised at a supersonic speed and released a torpedo at the end. With the assistance of a parachute, the torpedo adjusted its posture into the water and searched for the submarine to complete the final stage of the attack mission.
After the successful test shot, Indian Defense Minister Singh pointed out that this is an example of India’s future defense system construction. SASSESH REDDY ALSO SAID THAT THE SYSTEM WOULD FURTHER STRENGTHEN THE INDIAN NAVY AND PROMOTE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTONOMY.
The SMART missile system conducted its first test launch in October last year. According to Indian media reports, SMART missiles have a range of 650 kilometers.
“SMART missiles are the product of the combination of ballistic missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes. The advantage is that compared with anti-submarine platforms such as anti-submarine aircraft, warships or submarines, they can carry out long-range and rapid strikes on enemy submarines,” said military expert Han Dong. “ballistic missiles can reach an area 600 kilometers away in more than ten minutes, and its It takes several hours for him to fight the submarine platform.
“But SMART missiles rely heavily on system operations and require other sensors, such as fixed sonar networks deployed underwater to find that the target is sent back to shore, and then launch missiles to attack. But the problem of target recognition must be solved, because the marine environment is very complex, and sometimes sonar will misjudge whales as submarines, which will waste missiles. Han Dong said.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan also conducted a missile test during India’s test launch of new missiles.
On December 21, local time, according to the Ministry of Public Relations of Pakistan’s armed forces, Pakistan successfully tested the enhanced Bapur-1B cruise missile developed by itself.
According to the Pakistani military, the missile has a range of more than 900 kilometers. The Barbour series cruise missiles have low-altitude flight, high mobility and other capabilities, which can effectively avoid missile early warning and defense systems. The Pakistani military said that the successful test launch of the missile enhanced the long-range strike capability of the Pakistani army.
