BHUBANESWAR: India on Wednesday successfully conducted the maiden trial of the country’s first indigenously developed anti-ship missile from a naval helicopter off the Odisha coast.
Developed by DRDO, the air launched anti-ship weapon system was fired by a Seaking 42B helicopter in full operational configuration meeting all mission objectives.
Defence sources said the missile followed the desired sea skimming trajectory and reached the designated target with a high degree of accuracy, validating the control, guidance and mission algorithms.
“All the sub-systems of the newly developed missile performed satisfactorily. The sensors deployed across the test range and near impact point tracked the missile trajectory and captured all the events. The mission was successful,” said a defence official.
DRDO has developed the missile with many new technologies, including an indigenously built launcher for the helicopter. The missile guidance system included state-of-the-art navigation system and integrated avionics.
The short range anti-ship missile project with a fund allocation of Rs 434 crore was sanctioned in 2018. The weapon system with a strike range of around 50 km weighs around 380 kg. Fitted with an imaging infra-red seekers, it can carry a warhead of around 100 kg.
Travelling at a speed of one Mach, the missile is capable of destroying patrol boats and damaging warships. It can cruise at just five metres above sea level, making it difficult for enemy radars to detect and track the weapon.
Although India has the naval version of BrahMos to be used as an anti-ship missile, it is a joint venture with Russia. DRDO is planning the longer range version of the indigenously developed anti-ship missile.
Secretary of Department of Defence (Research and Development) and DRDO Chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy complimented the Indian Navy and Naval flight test squadron for their support to the project. “The system will strengthen the offensive capability of the Indian Navy,” he said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, Indian Navy and associated teams for the maiden developmental flight test of the anti-ship missile. With this indigenous anti-ship missile, India attained a high level of capability in the indigenous design and development of missile systems, he added.