According to a report in India Today by Manjeet Negi, the Indian Army is poised to acquire its first-ever regiment of Pralay tactical ballistic missiles as part of a broader strategy aimed at developing a strategic rocket force.
Senior defense officials have confirmed that the Indian Defence Ministry has approved the purchase of a regiment of Pralay tactical ballistic missiles for the Indian Army. These missiles are capable of striking targets within a range of 150 to 500 kilometers. This marks the first time that a ballistic missile will be introduced into conventional military operations.
Pralay, which translates to “Apocalypse,” is a canisterized tactical surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It represents a fusion of technologies derived from the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme, specifically the exoatmospheric interceptor missile Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV), and the Prahaar tactical missile. The project to develop Pralay was sanctioned in March 2015 with a budget of ₹332.88 crore (equivalent to US$63 million in 2023).
The Research Centre Imarat (RCI) is the lead integrator for this project. Comparable foreign missiles in the same category include the Dongfeng 12 (CSS-X-15), Precision Strike Missile, 9K720 Iskander, and the Hyunmoo 2 missile. Powered by a solid-fuel rocket motor, the Pralay missile follows a quasi-ballistic trajectory and possesses the ability to perform mid-air maneuvers using a maneuverable reentry vehicle (MaRV) to evade anti-ballistic missile (ABM) interceptors.