India test-fired DRDO’s Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile off the Odisha coast on August 11, a step ahead in making war weapons & becoming self-sufficient.
India on Wednesday, August 11, successfully tested the DRDO’s Cruise Missile off the coast of Odisha. According to sources, more tests are to be conducted in near future to understand and develop the technology. Also, the range of the missile with an indigenous cruise engine can be increased later.
India’s Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile
After a successful test of its cruise missile made entirely of indigenous technology, India has now moved a step ahead in the direction of making war weapons. The missile launch was a significant step towards becoming self-sufficient. Designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the missile with a Made-in-India Manik turbofan engine test flew for around 150 km. The engine has performed as expected by DRDO.
Talking about the structure of the missile, it has a length of six meters, a wingspan of 2.7 m, a diameter of 0.52 m and a launch weight of about 1.5 tonnes.
“The new cruise missile will supplement the Indo-Russian joint venture supersonic cruise missile BrahMos,” sources said.
DRDO’s other missiles
Earlier in July, India had test-fired its indigenous developed New Generation Akash Missile (Akash-NG). It is a Surface to Air Missile defence system launched in Balasore, Odisha. It is said to strike targets at a distance of 60 km and can fly up to Mach 2.5. The testing was done during inclement weather conditions, which further proved the weather durability of the weapon system. The performance of the missile system was validated through data captured by Radar, Telemetry and Electro-Optical Tracking systems deployed by ITR, Chandipur.
At the same time, DRDO also flight-tested the Man-Portable Anti Tank Guided Missile.
Before that in June, a new missile of the Agni series known as Agni-Prime was test-fired from the Odisha coast. Being a canisterised missile, it has a range capability between 1000 and 2000 kilometres.
In February 2021, India had also successfully test-fired indigenously developed and tank-guided missile systems called Helina and Dhruvastra.
The development of these missiles will prove to be a force multiplier for the Air Defence capability of the Indian Air Force.