India plans to install surface-to-surface missiles to protect its entire border with Pakistan. These missiles are Pralay Quasi-Barely Realistic Missiles. Its acquisition by the Indian military has been publicly announced. Ongoing delivery is anticipated. However, not all missiles would be stationed close to the Pakistani border. Along the border with China, several Pralay missiles will also be stationed.
Pralay is an Indian “near-ballistic” missile. It’s been put through its paces and passed with flying colors over the past few months. India claims that this missile can travel up to 500 kilometers. This classifies it as a ballistic missile with a limited range. A launcher sends the missile on what amounts to a ballistic trajectory.
The Indian government’s research and development organization (DRDO) claims that Parlay can operate in any climate. Unfortunately, inclement weather can cause issues for some missile launcher radars. India believes it has found a solution to this issue by installing a fused silica dome [RADOME] over the radar.
The RADOME not only keeps the radar operational by shielding it from the elements but also improves its performance by ensuring that it can continually pick up electromagnetic signals.
According to Indian authorities, the Pralay can haul anything from 350 to 750 kilograms. They claim that the time between deciding to fire a rocket and actually launching it is relatively brief.
The Pralay quasi-ballistic missile has been compared to the Russian Iskander-M by certain Indian specialists. For instance, it shares many features with the 9K720 Iskander-M variant. The 9K720 Iskander-M can lift over 680 kilograms. Iskander-M has a potential range of 400 km, albeit this depends on the cargo’s weight.
While there are some parallels, Iskander-M is distinct from its Indian counterpart. The Pralay lacks sophisticated technology like the Russian missile’s Optical Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator [DSMAC] for target detection.
This means that the Russian missile can perform in-flight correlation of the areas of sensed ground targets. I.e., in simple terms – higher precision compared to the Indian missile.
But the missiles’ navigation system is also the same, giving them more similarities than differences. The navigation system is inertial [INS] or satellite navigation.
But Iskander-M, unlike the Indian missile, is more difficult to intercept. The reason – the Russian missile has an integrated TERCOM system. I.e., matches the terrain contour. This also increases the accuracy of the Russian missile compared to its Indian equivalent.
The news of the purchase of 120 Pralay cruise missiles is good news for India and the Indian Army. Bulgarianmilitary.com recalls that in recent months, the Indian Ministry of Defense has been making plans for the future development of Indian missile forces and capabilities.
India is expected to classify the Pralay as a tactical weapon system for the Indian Army and the BrahMos missile. Apart from the threat from Pakistan, India believes the Pralay missile will allow the Indian military to target Chinese dual-use infrastructure and military bases on the Tibetan Plateau.