An indigenously built naval anti-ship missile was successfully test fired from a Seaking 42B helicopter at integrated test range (ITR), Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha on Wednesday.
Developed by DRDO in association with Indian Navy, the mission to fire the missile, which is the first for the Navy, "met all its objectives", said the defence ministry. "The missile followed the desired sea skimming trajectory and reached the designated target with high degree of accuracy, validating the control, guidance and mission algorithms. All the sub-systems performed satisfactorily. The sensors deployed across the test range and near impact point tracked the missile trajectory and captured all the events," stated the ministry in a statement.
New technologies incorporated
The missile system incorporated many new technologies, including an indigenously developed launcher for the helicopter, said the ministry. The missile guidance system includes state-of-the-art navigation system and integrated avionics.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, Indian Navy and associated teams for the maiden developmental flight test and said this showed that India has attained a high level of capability in the indigenous design and development of missile systems.
Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development, and chairman, DRDO, Dr G Satheesh Reddy, appreciated the efforts of the project team for successfully proving mission objectives.
Senior officers of DRDO and the Indian Navy witnessed the flight test at Ballasore test range.