SOURCE: AFI
India’s Republic Day Parade on January 20, 2025, marked a historic moment as the country showcased the twin launcher configuration of the Pralay ballistic missile system for the first time. Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Pralay missile represents a significant leap in India’s tactical missile capabilities, designed to bolster the country’s defense posture along sensitive borders.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) placed its first order for 120 Pralay missiles in December 2022, followed by the Indian Army’s order for 250 units in 2023. This year’s Republic Day display indicates the readiness of a new production batch for deployment along critical regions, including the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.
Pralay is a tactical quasi-ballistic surface-to-surface missile with an operational range of 150 to 500 kilometers. The newly revealed twin launcher configuration enhances its utility, enabling the consecutive launch of two missiles, thereby increasing its effectiveness in high-stakes combat scenarios.
Equipped with advanced guidance systems, Pralay achieves a Circular Error Probable (CEP) of less than 10 meters, with ongoing work aiming to improve this to less than 4 meters. The missile also boasts a terminal speed of Mach 6.1 and features a millimeter-wave seeker housed in a fused silica radome for precision targeting.
NOTE: AFI is a proud outsourced content creator partner of IDRW.ORG. All content created by AFI is the sole property of AFI and is protected by copyright. AFI takes copyright infringement seriously and will pursue all legal options available to protect its content.