India to deploy 120 Pralay missiles at border with Pakistan, China

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Jan 12:09
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This purchase comes after top officials from the Indian Defense Ministry met to discuss the development of a rocket force for the Indian Army.

Pralay missiles. Source: The Indian Express.

India has approved the purchase of 120 Pralay missiles for deployment along shared borders with Pakistan and China, reported a news agency on Monday.

Experts believe the purchase is in response to domestic opposition blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being "weak" with the Chinese.

"As of now," the agency stated, "only two tests have been conducted using the Pralay ballistic missile. This could mean that the missile would not be operational for at least a couple of years since supporting mobile platforms will have to be developed for the ballistic missile”.

ANI news agency cited a defense source as saying: “A high-level meeting of the Defense Ministry cleared the acquisition of around 120 missiles for the armed forces and their deployment along the borders,”

Upping Indian defense

Pralay missiles, tactical, surface-to-surface, short-range ballistic missiles, can locate and strike targets up to 500km away, in addition to being difficult to intercept because of another quality which is the inability to change paths.

The missiles, manufactured domestically, have been compared with Russian Iskander missiles - although they are based on the Indian Prithvi missiles.

This purchase comes after the Indian Defence Ministry’s top officials have been conducting talks to develop a Rocket force for the Indian Army. If done, according to reports, the Indian Army would have the chance to target dual-use Chinese infrastructure and military bases on the Tibetan Plateau.

In other news, a live video from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in November showed the first domestically built space rocket, the half-ton Vikram-S rocket, launching before noon local time and traveling in an arc. It safely splashed into the water six minutes later.

The rocket, created by local startup Skyroot Aerospace, ascended to an altitude of 90 km (55 mi), which is less than the 100 km Karman line and is considered to be the boundary between Earth and space.