DRDO carries out successful flight-trial of India’s first long-range hypersonic missile
This hypersonic missile is designed to carry various payloads for ranges greater than 1,500 kms for the Armed Forces.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force jointly flight-tested an indigenously-developed long-range(LR) bomb successfully from an aerial platform on Friday.
An issued Press statement by PIB stated that during the test , “the LR bomb was released from an IAF fighter aircraft, and was guided to a land-based target at a long range with accuracy within specified limits,” the DRDO said in a statement. The DRDO has claimed that all the mission objectives were successfully claimed.
The bomb has been designed and developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a DRDO laboratory located at Hyderabad, in coordination with other DRDO laboratories.
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Post launching of the bomb in the air, its performance was monitored by a number of range sensors including the Electro Optical Tracking System (EOTS), telemetry, and radar deployed by the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has appreciated the DRDO and the IAF and other teams associated with successful flight trial and stated that this will prove to be a force multiplier for the Indian armed forces.
DRDO chairman, G. Satheesh Reddy, in his message to the teams, said that successful flight test of the long-range bomb has marked an important milestone in indigenous development of this class of systems.
Two days ago, India successfully tested nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-5 that can hit its target at a range of 5,000 km on Wednesday from the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island.
“The missile, which uses a three-stage solid fuelled engine, is capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometres with a very high degree of accuracy,” said the Defence Ministry in a statement.
The successful test of Agni-5 is in line with India’s stated policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence’ that underpins the commitment to ‘No First Use’.
The Agni-V has been developed by the DRDO and Bharat Dynamics Ltd and weighs close to 50,000 kg.
(With IANS inputs)
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