For the first time, India conducted trial of an exo-atmospheric interceptor missile on Sunday in an effort to create a shield against an incoming enemy missile at an altitude over 120 km. The much-hyped maiden PDV (Prithvi Defence Vehicle) mission, carried out from the Wheeler Island, was a complete success as it met all its objectives without any flaw.
With this, India achieved a significant milestone in the direction of developing a two-layered ballistic missile defence system, said experts.The interceptor, positioned at launch pad-IV of the Integrated Test Range at the Wheeler Island, went into action and took off at about 9.10 am to hit its target after getting signals from the radars about the hostile missile. The target, mimicking an incoming enemy missile, had first been test-fired from a naval ship at 9.06 am.
The interceptor weapon successfully prevented the enemy missile, an incoming ballistic missile, a modified variant of the Prithvi, said a senior scientist of the DRDO. Earlier, the DRDO had successfully tested six interceptor missiles developed by it, both in endo-atmosphere (within 30 km altitude above sea level and exo-atmosphere stage (above 30 km altitude).The Prithvi Air Defence interceptor missile has already demonstrated its killing capability at an altitude of 50 km and 80 km while the Advanced Air Defence interceptor missile has smashed the target missile at an altitude of 15 km to 30 km.