BHUBANESWAR: India's strategic defence preparedness received a boost on Friday when the country successfully flight-tested a Long-Range Bomb (LRB) released from an aerial platform off the Odisha coast.
The indigenously-developed guided bomb covered the desired range and hit the land-based target with precision. The bomb was tested by a joint team of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Defence sources said an IAF fighter aircraft that took off from the Kalaikunda airforce base in West Bengal released the bomb that was guided to a land-based target at a long-range with accuracy within specified limits.
The flight of the bomb and the performance was monitored by a number of range sensors including an electro-optical tracking system, telemetry and radar deployed by the Integrated Test Range (ITR).
Secretary of Department of Defence R&D and DRDO Chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy said all the mission objectives have been successfully met. “The successful flight test of LRB has marked an important milestone in indigenous development of this class of systems,” he said.
The long-range bomb has been designed and developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a DRDO unit at Hyderabad in coordination with other DRDO laboratories.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO, IAF and other teams associated with the successful flight trials. He said the long-range guided bomb will prove to be a force multiplier for the Indian Armed Forces.