NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 07:06 ET
- India’s DRDO salvo-launched two Pralay short-range ballistic missiles in quick succession off Odisha, the defence ministry said.
- The firing was part of user evaluation trials, with Indian Air Force and Army representatives present, it said.
- DRDO chief Samir V. Kamat said the result points to “imminent” readiness for induction, the ministry statement said.
India’s defence research agency fired two Pralay short-range ballistic missiles in quick succession off the coast of Odisha on Wednesday in user evaluation trials, the defence ministry said.
The salvo launch — firing multiple missiles rapidly from the same launcher — matters because user evaluation trials are the late-stage tests run with the armed forces to validate a system before it is inducted into service.
DRDO Chairman Dr Samir V Kamat said the achievement indicated “imminent readiness of induction of the system with the users,” according to the ministry statement.
Both missiles followed the intended trajectory and met all flight objectives, the ministry said.
Tracking sensors deployed by the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur monitored the launches, and telemetry equipment installed on a ship near the impact points confirmed the terminal events, it said.
The missile systems used for the trials were integrated by the two development-cum-production partners, Bharat Dynamics and Bharat Electronics, the ministry said.
Representatives from the Indian Air Force and Indian Army witnessed the tests alongside senior DRDO scientists and industry officials, it added.
Indian media including The Economic Times and OdishaTV also reported the launches, citing the defence ministry statement.
Pralay is an indigenously developed solid-propellant surface-to-surface missile that the government describes as “quasi-ballistic” — meaning it can fly a lower, manoeuvring trajectory than a traditional ballistic arc, which can improve accuracy and make interception harder.
The ministry said Pralay uses advanced guidance and navigation to ensure high precision and can carry multiple types of warheads against various targets.
In a 2021 statement after Pralay’s maiden test, the defence ministry said the missile has a range of 150 to 500 km (93 to 311 miles) and can be launched from a mobile launcher.
The ability to fire two missiles in quick succession from the same launcher is designed to show the system can deliver rapid strikes under operational conditions, including against time-sensitive targets.
India has been pushing to deepen domestic production of weapons and expand its conventional strike options, alongside other locally developed systems such as the BrahMos cruise missile and the Pinaka rocket artillery family.
