India’s Pralay missile passes user-evaluation flight test

India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested the Pralay quasi-ballistic missile off the Odisha coast on November 5, 2026, in user-evaluation trials. The Defence Ministry said the test met all stipulated objectives, based on data recorded by range instruments at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur. It said the system’s induction into the armed forces had become imminent, but did not give a date. The missile was launched from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island at about 11:10 a.m., according to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. He said the trial was part of user-evaluation testing and congratulated DRDO, the armed forces and industry partners. The ministry’s assessment of the test and the prospective induction was repeated in official statements and posts; the reports do not provide a separate test-data assessment. Pralay is described as a short-range, surface-to-surface missile designed to carry conventional warheads. Reports give its range as 150 to 500 kilometres. Most state a payload capacity of 500 to 1,000 kilograms, while one report gives the lower limit as 350 kilograms. The discrepancy in the lower figure is unresolved in the accounts...