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The use of rockets and missiles in India date back as early as the 18th century, during the period of [[Tipu Sultan]]. During the fight against the British Troops, Tipu Sultan's Army, used a number of improvised weapons which included rockets to thwart the British invasion.
In twentieth century, the government of [[History of the Republic of India|independent India]], embarked on a number of subsequent plans to develop missiles which would strengthen the Indian defence structure. In 1958, the government constituted the Special Weapons Development Team which would later become the Defence Research and Development Laboratories (DRDL), to undertake the development of first-generation anti-tank missiles. In 1970s Indian government decided to manufacture the anti-tank missiles under license from France, At the same time DRDL was entrusted with two other projects, Project Valiant, which involved the development of a long-range ballistic missile, and, Project Devil, which was aimed at reverse engineering the Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missile. Both projects were considered failures and Project Valiant was terminated in 1974 and Project Devil in 1980. <ref>[http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/India/Missile/1931.html|
However, by this time, DRDL developed the infrastructure and facilities to undertake the design and development of missiles. In 1983, under the leadership of [[Abdul Kalam|Dr. Abdul Kalam]], the Indian government revived the missile program as an Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP).
The main aim of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program was to develop, a missile in five different categories
There were a number of failures and successes, which led to an expansion of the program in 1990s, to develop Agni with higher range, a ballistic missile (''codenamed'' '''Sagarika'''), which would be the naval version of the Prithvi, and
In 1998, the Government of India, signed an agreement with Russia to design, develop, manufacture and market a Supersonic Anti-Ship Cruise Missile System (''codenamed'' '''BrahMos'''). <ref>[http://www.brahmos.com/aboutus.html BrahMos Website] ''accessed'' [[18 October]] [[2006]].</ref>
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The '''Prithvi missile''' (from [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] [[prithvi|{{IAST|pṛthvī}}]] "Earth") is the tactical [[Surface-to-surface missile|surface-to-surface]] short-range [[ballistic missile]] (SRBM) developed by [[India]] under the [[Integrated Guided Missile Development Program]]. The Prithvi was India's first indigenously developed ballistic missile. Development of the Prithvi began in 1983, and it was first test-fired on February 25, 1988. It has a range of up to 150 to 300 km. The land variant is called '''Prithvi''' while the naval operational variant of Prithvi I and Prithvi II class missiles are ''codenamed'' '''Dhanush''' (''meaning'' '''Bow'''). Both variants are used for surface targets.
The Prithvi is said to have its propulsion technology derived from the Soviet [[
===Variants of Prithvi===
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===Prithvi III===
'''Prithvi III''' class (''codenamed'' '''Sagarika''' ''meaning'' '''Oceanic''') <ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/1998/98sep07/head6.htm Article in The Tribune], dated [[7 September]] [[1998]], ''accessed'' [[18 October]] [[2006]].</ref> is a two-stage surface-to-surface missile in the developmental stages. The first stage is solid fuelled with a 16 [[kilogram-force|metric ton force]] (157 [[kilonewton|kN]]) thrust motor. The second stage is liquid fuelled. The missile can carry a 1000 kg warhead to a distance of 350 km and a 500 kg warhead to a distance of 600 kilometres and a 250 kilogram warhead
'''Sagarika''' will be a nuclear-capable, cruise missile, capable of being mounted in ships or submarines. Considering the upward capability developments, Prithvi class of missiles could be reclassified from short-range ballistic missile to a medium range ballistic missile. The current codename of the operational variant '''Dhanush''' could pave way for the new codename '''Sagarika''' as Sagarika becomes operational. '''Sagarika''' will be inducted into the [[Advanced Technology Vessel]] being developed for Indian Navy. <ref>[http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=so05norris The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists] ''dated'' [[September]]/[[October]] [[2005]], ''accessed'' [[18 October]] [[2006]].</ref>
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'''Akash''' (''meaning'' '''Sky''') is a medium range surface-to-air missile developed as part of [[India]]'s Integrated Guided Missile Development Program to achieve self-sufficiency in the area of surface-to-air missiles.
Akash is a medium-range surface-to-air missile. It has a launch weight of 720 kg, a diameter of 35 cm and a length of 5.8 metres. It has a range of 25 km. Akash flies at supersonic speed, reaching a maximum of 2.5 Mach. It can reach an altitude of 18 km. Its warhead weighs 55 kg. It is propelled by a solid fuelled booster stage. The missile has a terminal guidance system capable of working through [[electronic countermeasures]]. Features include capability of attacking multiple targets, and use of [[ramjet]] propulsion system that enables
Design of the missile is much similar to [[SA-6]] with four long tube ramjet inlet ducts mounted mid-body between wings. For pitch/yaw control four clipped triangular moving wings are mouted on mid-body. For roll control four inline clipped delta fins with ailerons are mounted before the tail.
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