Highlights
- India test fires medium range missile at a defence base off Odisha coast
- The surface-to-air missile is designed to defend any airborne threat
- A series of tests will take place before it joins the Air Force arsenal
India on Thursday successfully tested a new surface-to-air missile system it has developed in collaboration with Israel, which will significantly buttress its air defence system.
Here are 10 developments in the story:
The system called Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile system (MR-SAM) was flight tested twice at the Integrated Missile Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore, Odisha.
The missile, on receiving a signal from radars, intercepted a target drone at 8.15 am, officials said.
This is the first time that the system was tested in India. In the next few days, a series of tests will take place before the system joins the Indian Air Force arsenal.
The missile is similar to the Barak-8 missile used by the Navy's new destroyers.
The supersonic missile system was jointly developed with the Israel Aerospace Industries. 400 scientists, including 100 from Israel, worked for seven years to make this weapon system.
The missile is designed to defend any type of airborne threat including aircraft and helicopters. It can intercept supersonic aircraft and even missiles.
The project director for MR-SAM told NDTV there is no comparable system in the world. Earlier, a naval version of the same missile was tested in Israel.
The full system, which includes radars, mobile launchers, a combat management system and power supply, was tested in full "operational condition".
The system also includes a multi-functional surveillance and threat alert radar for tracking, detection and guidance of the missile.
Companies like Bharat Electronic Limited, L&T, Bharat Dynamics Limited and the Tata Group have developed sub systems that have been put to use in this flight test.
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