BHUBANESWAR: In another step towards indigenising weapon systems, India has successfully test-fired the beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) Astra from an aircraft off the Odisha coast, paving the way for its integration into the indigenously developed fighter jet.
Defence sources said the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) conducted the test launch of the homegrown Astra from the LCA Tejas AF MK1 prototype fighter aircraft on Wednesday off the coast of Chandipur.
The test-firing successfully demonstrated the direct hit of the missile on a moving target. All the subsystems performed accurately, meeting all mission parameters and objectives, the sources said.
Designed and developed by DRDO, Astra missile is capable of engaging targets up to a range of over 100 km. The missile has been equipped with advanced guidance and navigation capabilities that allow it to destroy targets with greater accuracy.
Astra has already been inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) and integrated with frontline fighter aircraft Sukhoi 30 MKI. "This successful test is a significant milestone towards the induction of LCA AF MK1A variant of the missile. More trials have been planned for the performance evaluation," the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.
The 3.8-metre-long ‘state-of-the-art’ Astra missile has a launch weight of about 154 kg. It uses solid-fuel propellant and a 15 kg high-explosive warhead, activated by a proximity fuse.
The missile has been designed to destroy targets at varying ranges and altitudes, allowing for the engagement of both short-range targets (up to 20 km) and long-range targets (up to 100 km) using alternative propulsion modes.
Fitted with a terminal active radar seeker and an updated mid-course internal guidance system, the missile can locate and track targets. It is difficult to track this missile as its onboard electronic countermeasures jam signals from enemy radars.
As an anti-aircraft missile, it can be fired after receiving a signal from a faraway target through its onboard manoeuvres based on radio frequency.
One of its versions, with a strike range of 100 km, can cruise at an altitude of 15 km, while another, with a range of 40 km, can destroy a target at an altitude of up to 30,000 ft, and the third one, with a range of 30 km, is capable of hitting a target at sea-level altitude.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated the teams of DRDO, IAF, ADA, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and all involved in the trial.