India successfully test fires Pralay ballistic missile, which can strike target 500 km away

India on Wednesday successfully test-fired its short-range, surface-to-surface guided ballistic missile 'Pralay' off the Odisha coast.Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Twitter, "Congratulations to the DRDO and associated teams for the maiden development flight trial.""My compliments to them for the fast-track development and successful launch of modern Surface-to-Surface Quasi Ballistic missile. It is a significant milestone achieved today," he added.Here’s everything you need to know about this new weapon in India’s arsenal.• A tactical Short Range Ballistic Missile, Pralay has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.• ‘Pralay' is a 350-500 km short-range, surface-to-surface missile with a payload capacity of 500-1,000 kg.• According to an ANI report, sources said that Pralay, which is a quasi ballistic surface-to-surface missile, has been developed in a way to able to defeat interceptor missiles. It has the ability to change its path after covering a certain range midair.• Pralay can be fired from a mobile launcher, and its guidance system includes state-of-the-art Navigation System and Integrated Avionics.• The project to develop Pralay was sanctioned in March 2015 with a budget of Rs 333 crore.• The missile is based on Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) exoatmospheric interceptor missile from Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme.• The home-grown missile can be compared to China’s Dongfeng 12 and Russia’s 9K720 Iskander, both short-range tactical ballistic missiles, a report by the New Indian Express stated.• Pralay missile has been tested just days after India test-fired Agni Prime nuclear-capable ballistic missile, which has a range of 1,000-2,000 kilometres.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.