New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The Advanced Agni missile with Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) system, capable of hitting different targets spread over a large area, was successfully flight-tested over the Indian Ocean Region, a DRDO official said on Saturday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Indian Army, and industry on the successful flight test conducted on Friday.
“This will add an incredible capability to the country's defence preparedness against the growing threat perceptions,” he said.
The successful flight trial of the Advanced Agni missile with MIRV was conducted from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha, said an official statement.
The missile was flight-tested with multiple payloads, targeting different targets spatially distributed across the Indian Ocean Region, it said.
Telemetry and tracking were carried out by multiple ground- and ship-based stations. These systems tracked the entire missile trajectory from lift-off to the impact of all payloads. Flight data confirmed that all mission objectives were met during the trial, the statement said.
“With this successful trial, India once again demonstrated the capability to target multiple strategic targets using a single missile system. This missile is developed by DRDO laboratories with the support of industries across the country,” it said.
The trial was witnessed by senior scientists of the DRDO and Indian Army personnel.
On Thursday, the DRDO and the Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully conducted the maiden flight-trial of Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation (TARA) weapon off the coast of Odisha, said a statement.
TARA, the modular range-extension kit, is India’s first indigenous glide weapon system that converts unguided warheads into precision-guided weapons.
TARA has been designed and developed by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, along with other DRDO laboratories, to enhance the accuracy of a low-cost weapon for neutralising ground-based targets.
It is the first glide weapon to utilise state-of-the-art low-cost systems. The development of the kit has been undertaken with Development cum Production Partners (DcPP) and other Indian industries, which have already commenced production, said the statement.
