India issues a notification regarding "Launch of Experimental Flight Vehicle" in the Bay of Bengal area.

As per the notification published by detresfa_ on its Twitter account the range of the notified area is around 350 km. The experimental vehicle test is expected to take place between the window of 16th October 1330 and 17th Oct 1630 hours.


It is not known whether DRDO is about to test the already announced Nirbhay Cruise Missile or one of its 3 tactical units consisting of Prahaar (Pragati), Pralay, or the new Pranash. It should be noted that Pralaay a surface-to-surface guided short-range ballistic missile for battlefield operations could be the one to be tested. IDN guesses it could also be the Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet which has not been test flown for quite sometime.

Prahaar or "Strike" in English is a solid-fuel road-mobile tactical ballistic missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Prahaar is expected to replace the Prithvi-I short-range ballistic missiles currently in operation.

It should be noted that Prahaar has a maximum range of 150 km (93 mi), Pragati (Export variant) 170 km (110 mi) and the new tactical missile Pranash 200 km (120 mi). Nirbbhay on the other hand has a range of over 1,000 km, since the notified range is less than 350 km a Nirbhay test could be ruled out.

About Pranash Missile

Due to the limited range of 150 km (93 mi) of Prahaar, the Indian Army wanted a new tactical ballistic missile with range of 200 km. The configuration of the new missile called Pranash has been frozen by DRDO with the developmental trials to begin from 2021. The missile is said to be powered by a single-stage solid propellant advanced indigenous engine which will be offered for the Indian army for suitable applications. Therefore, a Pranash test is not expected anytime soon. 

Our Bureau