How Pralay-Prahaar Duo will provide offensive firepower to counter two-front war

After a gap of 7 years, DRDO developed solid-fuel road-mobile tactical ballistic missile Prahaar (“Strike”) once again made a comeback to the argument the offensive conventional firepower of the Indian Army against strategic and tactical targets. Prahaar which has a range of 150km was developed to provide superior offensive firepower to strike forces against both tactical and strategic targets after its first launch in 2011 it soon went to cold storage due to lack of interest by Indian Army then.

With China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) fielding a sizeable inventory of conventionally armed BMs in Tibet, the Indian Army (IA) wants to deploy symmetric counters to the same. At the moment, the only means for the IA to strike targets at distances of close to 500 km is the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile (CM), which though deadly accurate, can carry a payload of only about 200 kg or so, besides being somewhat expensive. As such, the IA in recent times has felt the need for a SRBM with a range of around 500 km that can also carry a sizeable payload. It is to address this requirement DRDO in 2015 was tasked to develop a new mobile short-range ballistic missile dubbed ” Pralay ” which has the ability to carry several different conventional warheads.

Indian military planners off later have started talking about the possibility of country facing two-front war against China and Pakistan in near future due to which Indian Army felt need to upgrade its short ranged battlefield missile system after 70’s era Prithvi Surface to Surface Missile (SSM) was seen seriously lacking in capabilities to provide quick offensive firepower capabilities against both tactical and strategic targets.

India is all set to conduct the maiden test of its brand new surface-to-surface tactical Short Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM) developed under a classified project, code-named Pralay.Elaborate preparation is underway as the missile will be flight tested from a canister mobile launcher any time between September 20 and 22 from a defence test facility off Odisha coast.

Pralay SSM will have a range of 350km which can carry a payload of 1000kgs. Pralay with a light payload of 500kg will be able to hit a target as far as 400km.Pralay was developed to counter deployment of Dongfeng 12 (DF-12) short-range tactical ballistic missile bordering India by the Chinese Army. Dongfeng 12 (DF-12) is said to be having a range of 100-250 with an actual possible range of as much as 400 km.

DF-12 are configured in dual launch configuration aboard an 8×8 truck chassis making them highly mobile. DF-12 is a tactical missile system designed to be used in theater level conflicts to be used on hostile fire weapons, air and anti-missile defenses, command posts and communications nodes and troops in concentration areas, among others.

Pralay mobile short-range ballistic missile will have strike range between 300-500 km and will be designed to fly faster and will be maneuverable to counter missile defence systems. Pralay Missile system will also be getting a Canister Mobile Launcher based on aboard an 8×8 truck chassis.

Indigenously designed and developed by DRDO, the missile is a derivative of Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) exo-atmospheric interceptor missile, capable of destroying enemy weapons at high altitudes.Pralay, which is much faster and accurate, has a strike range of 350 km to 500 km and weighs around five tonne. With a payload of 1000 kg, it can travel a distance of 350 km. If the payload is halved, the missile will be able to hit a target as far as 500 km.

With Pralay, Indian Army wants to be less dependent on Air Force for precision bombing in theater level conflicts to suppress enemy’s capability to wage war by attacking their command posts, communications nodes, large troops in concentrated areas and other active military units in areas.

Pralay-Prahaar Duo will enhance Indian army’s firepower in theater level conflicts against command posts and communications nodes and large troops in concentration areas of the hostile forces. Both Tactical ballistic missile system will have Canister Mobile Launcher which will improve its Mobility and also provide quick reaction deployment and launch whenever required.

With Pralay- Prahaar, Indian Army wants to be less dependent on Air Force for precision bombing in theater level conflicts to suppress enemy’s capability to wage war by attacking their command posts, communications nodes, large troops in concentrated areas and other active military units in areas.

Local commanders in charge of the missile systems will be able to strike hostile forces within minutes from unprepared positions or provide support to other military units in the region within missile range against numerically large attacks on other sectors in the region. Both Pralay-Prahaar Duo will not be able to carry nuclear payloads but will have the ability to carry several types and sub-types of conventional ammunition depending on the striking targets.

DRDO is also developing Pakistan-centric nuclear missile called Agni-1P which will replace Prithvi and Agni-1 and will have a range of 300 to 700 kilometers. Agni-1P will be a two-stage, solid propellant missile with relatively latest technology which will vastly improve its accuracy but relatively will be reserved for High-value targets.Pralay short-range tactical ballistic missile will have the same role as DF-12 in Indian Army and the missile system.