Giving a boost to the prowess of the mechanised infantry soldiers in the battlefield, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday successfully test fired an indigenously developed man-portable anti-tank guided missile.
The fire and forget missile can destroy enemy tank at a range of more three-four kms and just weighs 15-16 kilos. Giving details of the test, Defence Ministry officials said here the DRDO successfully flight-tested indigenously missile. It was launched from a man portable launcher integrated with thermal site and the target was mimicking a tank. The missile hit the target in direct attack mode and destroyed it with precision.
Officials said the test has validated the minimum range successfully. All the mission objectives were met. The missile has already been successfully flight tested for the maximum range.
The missile is incorporated with state-of-the-art Miniaturised Infrared Imaging Seeker along with advanced avionics. The test brings the development of indigenous third generation man portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile close to completion. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO and the industry for the successful test.
In another test, the DRDO scientists successfully flight-tested the New Generation Akash Missile (Akash-NG), a surface-to-air Missile from Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the coast of Odisha on Wednesday. The Akash missile can take down a hostile incoming target at a range of 25 to 30 km. The flight trial was conducted at around 12:45 PM from a land-based platform with all weapon system elements such as Multifunction Radar, Command, Control & Communication System and launcher participating in deployment configuration.
The missile system has been developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories. The launch was witnessed by the representatives of the IAF.
In order to capture flight data, ITR deployed a number of Range stations like, Electro Optical Tracking System, Radar and Telemetry. The flawless performance of the entire weapon system has been confirmed by complete flight data captured by these systems. During the test, the missile demonstrated high manoeuvrability required for neutralising fast and agile aerial threats.
Once deployed, the Akash-NG weapon system will prove to be a force multiplier for the air defence capability of the IAF. Production agencies Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) also participated in the trials.