NEW DELHI, June 15: The range of the Prithvi missile, which at present is 150-250 km, can be increased manifold by fitting into it an inter-changeable warhead weighing within 500 to 1,000 kg, says a military expert.

In his ``Indian Defence Yearbook 1997-98'', former military secretary, Lt Gen (retd) R K Jasbir Singh says the missile has been designed to deliver advanced conventional warheads into enemy territory.

Explosives or sub-munitions like anti-tank and anti-personnel mines or bombs, fired from the missile, can take a deadly toll of strategic targets and disrupt troop concentrations in the neigbourhood.

The United States had used similar missiles in the war against Iraq with devastating effect. The M-11s, in Pakistan's inventory in the form of HATF-2, can also reach targets as far as parts of northern and western India, according to Lt Gen Singh.

India has denied reports in the American press that Prithvi has been deployed along the Pakistan border and said it was ``false, mischievous and motivated'' reporting which said that Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral had told the US that the movement of Prithvi missiles was done by the military officers without his knowledge and that he had promised to keep the missiles from being deployed.

``We have seen the recent series of Washington Post reports regarding alleged deployment of Prithvi missiles near the Pakistan border,'' an external affairs ministry spokesman said, asserting that ``government has already categorically stated that Prithvi missiles have not been deployed''.

According to American media reports, US intelligence had detected movement of the missiles to the Pakistan borders.

The missile has been designed to deliver advanced conventional warheads into enemy territory. Its short reaction time, supersonic speed and ruggedness could be more effective than manned air strikes, according to Lt Gen Singh.Its main use will be destroying troop and armour concentrations, striking at static formations, communication headquarters and air bases, he said.

It could be compared with weapon systems like pluton of France and lance of united states of America which are an integral part of a tactical formation like a corps.

In terms of surface-to-surface missiles, the Prithvi is a tactical (150-250 km) mobile battlefield missile system. It has been launched 14 times during tests conducted so far, including two user trials carried out by the Army.

Powered by liquid propellant, the state of the art Prithvi has the latest on board computers as well as an advanced inertial navigation system.

The 8.55-metre missile with a 1,000-kg payload will use five types of conventional warheads. About 15 Prithvi SS-150 missiles with conventional warheads have already been prepared for the Army, according to the Lt Gen Singh.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.