Indian defense officials have successfully test-fired the indigenously developed Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile that has a strike range of 350km.

The missile, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, was launched from Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa. The Prithvi-II missile was launched from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of Integrated Test Range this morning.

The defense officials said that the launch, which was a part of the operational exercise by the strategic force command (SFC) of the defence services, was successful. The missile is powered by liquid propulsion twine engines and it uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory.

The Prithvi-II missile is capable of carrying between 500kg and 1000kg of warheads and it is the first missile developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme of the country. The missile was developed by India's Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and has already been inducted into the Indian armed forces.

It is handled by the strategic force command (SFC) and the new test was conducted to test effectiveness of the weapon in a real time situation. The officials aimed to study the effectiveness of the control and guidance system.

Prithvi-II was previously tested on October 4, 2012 from the same base.