Astra, an indigenously designed, all-weather beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile with a range of over 70 kilometres, has been successfully test fired from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI combat aircraft.
The missile has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO, the premier research and development organisation of the armed forces in the country.
The Astra is India's first indigenous effort at developing a missile of this class and is presently at an advanced stage of development.
The missile was test-fired from the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Odisha on Monday.
The Astra is capable of engaging targets of different ranges and altitudes
According to the Defence Ministry, a "live target was engaged accurately" by the Astra while the "mission profile was executed in a text book manner."
The missile was tracked using radars, electro-optical tracking sensors and struck its target successfully.
The Astra is capable of engaging targets of different ranges and altitudes including long-range as well as short-range targets.
The DRDO reportedly plans to develop a new version of the Astra missile which would have a range of 300 kilometres.
India presently uses Russian air-to-air missiles on its fleet of frontline Su-30 fighters but plans to induct Israeli designed I-Derby and Astra missiles in the future.
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