India’s ballistic missile defence system has got another boost. In trials the interceptor missile scored a direct hit on an incoming target in trials conducted on Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
The test was conducted at around 9.45 am on Thursday. The AAD Interceptor Missile has been designed and developed by Research Centre Imarat and the APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex in Hyderabad.
Carried out under the leadership of Shashikala Sinha, the Project Director for AAD, the test saw the interceptor missile hitting and destroying the target at an altitude of 15 km.
The Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) System of the Defence Research and Development Organisation has been under development for nearly a decade now.
The success puts India in the league of a few nations in the arena of critical defence technology. Thursday's direct interception was the fourth in a row, where the missile scored a perfect hit on an incoming missile, a Defence Ministry release claimed.
Detailing the trials, the release said, “In a textbook style launch, the incoming ballistic missile was launched from the LC-III complex of ITR, which followed the exact path of the intended ballistic missile. Radars located at different stations, acquired the targets, tracked them and passed on the data to the Master Control Centre (MCC), which generated the expected trajectory of the target and alerted the interceptor missile.
The interceptor was launched from Abdul Kalam Island and was initially guided by the Inertial Navigational System and the radars. Later, the seeker took over after a proper lock-on to the target, and guided the missile towards the target.
All the radars, Electro Optical and Telemetry Stations tracked both the missiles and recorded the final interception. The event was witnessed by Vice-Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sirish Deo and other senior officials of the armed forces. Directors of DRDO laboratories, namely RCI, ASL, LRDE and ITR reviewed the entire launch operations.