India’s first new generation sub-sonic cruise missileNirbhay deviated from its flight path during its maiden developmental trialfrom a defence base off the Odisha coast on Tuesday forcing the DRDOauthorities to terminate the mission mid-way.
Defence sources said the stealth missile which was launchedfrom the launching complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) atChandipur-on-sea at about 11.50 am deviated from its intended trajectory after20 minutes of flight.
In a statement, DRDO’s Directorate of Public InterfaceDirector Ravi Kumar Gupta said after travelling approximately half of itspre-coordinated distance, deviations were observed from the missile’s intendedcourse. “Further, flight was terminated to ensure coastal safety,” he stated.
Sources said the missile blasted off from a road mobilelauncher and the initial lift up was smooth. “It traveled at a speed of 0.75Mach and moved away from its designated path mid-way. The missile was thenterminated to avoid any untoward incident. However, the system performed welltill the deviation was witnessed,” the source added.
Nirbhay is the country’s indigenously developed sub-soniccruise missile having a strike range of around 1000 km. Once operational, itwould supplement the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos cruise missile.
As precautionary measures, the district administration hadshifted 3284 persons, including 698 children from 453 families residing within2 km radius of the test range. They were compensated as per the provisions ofthe ministry of defence (MoD).
According to defence sources, the two-stagesurface-to-surface missile has a length of six meters, diameter of 0.55 m, wingspan 2.7 m and a launch weight of about 1,500 kgs. It can carry a payload of450 kilograms.
While the Bengaluru-based Aeronautical DevelopmentEstablishment (ADE) has designed Nirbhay missile, most of its technologies havebeen derived from pilot less target aircraft Lakshya. The missile has beendeveloped by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) of DRDO.