Interceptor missile successfully tested
India on Sunday successfully test-fired indigenously developed interceptor missile from the interim test range (ITR) at Wheeler Island off Orissa coast, nearly 150 km from here.
With this, the country’s capability to destroy incoming “hostile” ballistic missile was further strengthened, a defence source claimed.
The full-fledged multi-layer ballistic missile defence (BMD) system, said to be a modified version of surface-to-surface Prithvi missile, was fired from two launch sites.
The “hostile” target ballistic missile was first lifted off from a mobile launcher around 9.33 am from the Launch Complex-3 of ITR at Chandipur-on-Sea.
Four minutes later, the interceptor, advanced air defence (AAD) missile positioned at Wheeler Island in Kendrapara district, nearly 70 km across sea from Chandipur, received signals from long ranging tracking radars installed along the coastlines. Then it travelled through the sky at a speed of 4.5 Mach to a definite altitude over the Bay of Bengal to destroy it, the source informed.
“The interceptor, AAD missile, has intercepted the ballistic missile at an altitude of 16 km and blasted the missile into pieces. All the events and mission happened perfectly like text book events. The success of this flight test is a major milestone leading towards deployment,” a Defence Research and Development Organisation source said.
Aimed at developing a full fledged multi-layer BMD system, the trial was carried out from two launch sites of ITR off Orissa coast. The whole exercise was to achieve the desired result with precision, the DRDO added.
Scientists of DRDO are analysing the detailed results and “kill effect” of the missile received from multiple sources. Soon after their firing, both the missiles roared in to the skies leaving behind a thin white ribbon of smokes.
The interceptor missile at wheeler’s Island with a new warhead was fully ready to take off. The radars tracking the ballistic missile constructed the trajectory of the missile and continuous complex computation were done in real time to launch the interceptor at 9.37 am and the INS onboard and Radars from ground guided the interceptor to the target (incoming ballistic missile).
Defence minister A.K. Antony congratulated the DRDO scientists on the successful demonstration of the Ballsitic Missile Defence System.
The flight test was witnessed by many senior scientists of the DRDO. Dr V.K. Saraswat, scientific adviser to the defence minister, who was present during launch operations congratulated all the DRDO scientists and staff for the successful test-firing.
Programme director V.L.N. Rao has monitored all the launch activities.
Mr Avinash Chander, director ASL, S.K. Ray, director of RCI, P. Venugopalan, director of DRDL, Dr K Sekhar, chief controller R&D (missiles), Dr Satish Kumar, director TBRL and S.P. Dash, director of ITR, have guided the teams during the launch operations.
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