Indian defence scientists are all set to test fire an all new, short range, tactical missile called ‘Prahar' in the third week of July.
Termed as a point weapon, Prahar (clinical strike) missile will be test fired on July 17 from the Defence Research Development Organisation's (DRDO) test facilities near Balasore off Orissa coast, according to Dr V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Raksha mantra.
The missile will have a range of 150 km. It will reach speeds of 60-70 km per hour and can carry any warhead.
Prahar is expected to bridge the gap in the Indian defence's tactical, short range missile armoury, which now consists of Pinaka (40-100 km range) and Prithvi (350 km), according to Mr Avinash Chander, Chief Controller (R&D) missile systems of the DRDO.
Dr Saraswat, Chief of DRDO, told a select group of newspersons today that it would be possible to mount six missiles of Prahar on a mobile launcher and target and destroy multiple targets with different warheads as well.
At present, the Indian Armed Forces import the unguided rocket named ‘Smudge' from Russia with a reach of 90 km.
Prahar will be a good hit missile to be deployed against targets in urban areas and high profile targets.