NEW DELHI: India’s efforts to bolster the country’s missile defence shield have recently led to successful test-firing of short-range missiles.
The Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile was successfully flight-tested by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Navy at Integrated Test Range at Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on June 24.
The MoD said it is a ship-borne weapons system, meant for neutralising aerial threats at close ranges including sea-skimming targets.
Also, a successful training launch of a Short-Range Ballistic Missile, Prithvi-II, was carried out on June 15.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Prithvi- II “is a proven system and is capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision.”
The user training launch successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile.
“With time, we have succeeded in producing complex offensive and defensive missile systems on our own. The country’s missile technology has acquired the capability of the reliable pin-pointed strike on enemy’s sensitive targets,” defence analyst Lt-Gen (retd) VK Chaturvedi said.
Between August 2020 and April 2022, the MoD has released three lists of 310 military equipment and systems, including various types of missiles which, in phases, will be developed indigenously.
In addition, the government has set a target of touching defence exports worth $5 billion by 2024.
In the process, India has got a contract of $374.96 million (Rs 2,700 crore) from the Philippines for three batteries of the BrahMos cruise missile.