Despite inclement weather conditions, India on Monday successfully test-fired indigenously developed interception missile from the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island off Orissa coast, nearly 200 km from here.
The missile is capable of destroying any incoming hostile ballistic missile. Aimed at developing a full-fledged multi-layer Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system, the trial was carried out from two launch sites of Integrated Test Range, informed ITR director Mr S.P. Dash.
The target missile, a modified surface-to-surface Prithvi was first lifted off from a mobile launcher at 10.05 am from the launch complex-3 of ITR at Chandipur-on-sea.
The interceptor, an Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile, positioned at Wheeler Island, about 70 km across sea from Chandipur getting signals from radars tracked it a few minutes later and than intercepted at a definite altitude in the mid-air over the sea.
“The mission is successful and the interceptor destroyed the target missile ward head within the range,” ITR director Mr S.P. Dash said after the mission.
Mr Das informed that while test-launch of both target and hit missiles were deemed success from their respective test sites, detailed results, specifically the “kill” effects of the interceptor would be known after all data analysis from multiple tracking sources.