India on Tuesday successfully flight tested the Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM). The defence ministry said the anti-tank missile was flight-tested in its final “deliverable configuration”.
“The Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully flight tested the final deliverable configuration of Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) on January 11,” the ministry said.
“The missile impacted the designated target and destroyed it. The final impact event was captured on camera and the test has validated the minimum range successfully,” it said.
It said the test firing was carried out to prove the “consistent performance” for the minimum range. The missile has a range of 2.5 km.
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“All the mission objectives were met. The missile has miniaturised infrared imaging seeker and advanced avionics for onboard control and guidance. The missile performance has been proven for the maximum range in earlier test trials,” the ministry said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO for the consistent performance of the anti-tank missile and said that it is an important step towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) in the development of advanced technology-based defence systems.
DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy congratulated all those involved in the project for the “excellent performance” of the missile, the ministry said.
Testing
- 1st Test: On September 15, 2018, DRDO carried out the first trial of the MPATGM successfully. This trial was followed by another successful trial of the MPATGM on September 16, 2018.
- 2nd Test: On March 13, 2019 DRDO successfully completed Guided Flight Trials (GFT) of MPATGM at Rajasthan desert. It established the top attack mode capability covering a distance of 2,500 m. This was followed by another successful test next day on March 14, 2019.
- 3rd Test: The missile was tested again on 11 September 2019. A man portable tripod launcher was used in the test. The target of the test was a dummy tank, which was hit in top attack mode.
- 4th Test: After a gap of one year due to COVID-19 lock-down, on 21 July, 2021 DRDO successfully flight tested MPATGM on a target mimicking tank using thermal sight to validate the minimum range on direct attack mode at 200-300 meters. The test was to validate the missile in-flight stability and deployment of guidance mechanism within short distance. With this test, the MPATGM development project is now closer to completion. During this test, the missile used a newly developed light-weight state of the art miniaturized version of IIR seeker.
- 5th Test: DRDO on January 11, 2022 successfully flight tested MPATGM in final deliverable configuration. The test was to prove the consistent performance at minimum range. The missile used miniaturized IIR seeker with advanced avionics for on-board control and guidance. MPATGM already completed similar successful test for maximum range. This system is now ready to enter serial production.