Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday conducted a successful maiden flight-test of Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) interceptor AD-1 missile which can target a weaponised flying object in the range of 1,500 km to 3,000 km.

The flight test was successfully carried out from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha on Wednesday, strengthening India’s deterrence capabilities.

All BMD weapon system elements located at different geographical locations participated in the flight test, the ministry of defence stated. ”The AD-1 is a long-range interceptor missile designed for both low exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric interception of long-range ballistic missiles as well as aircraft. It is propelled by a two-stage solid motor and equipped with indigenously-developed advanced control system, navigation and guidance algorithm to precisely guide the vehicle to the target,” said the ministry. The AD-1, with large kill altitude bracket, is an air defence system operated from the land and can also be mounted on Naval platforms.

During the flight-test, stated the ministry, all the sub-systems performed as per expectations and were validated by the data captured by a number of range sensors including Radar, Telemetry and Electro Optical Tracking stations deployed to capture the flight data.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO and other teams associated with successful flight trial of AD-1. The minister described AD-1 as a unique type of interceptor with advanced technologies available with a very few nations in the world and exuded confidence that it will further strengthen the country’s BMD capability to the next level.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat stated that this interceptor will provide great operational flexibility to the users and having capability to engage many different types of targets.

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