DRDO, Indian Navy successfully conduct flight test of surface-to-air missile

Pic/PTI

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy on Thursday successfully conducted a flight test of the Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from Chandipur off the Odisha coast, defence officials said. The missile, launched from a land-based vertical launcher, precisely engaged a high-speed aerial target at low altitude. This test validated several new updates to the system, including the Proximity Fuse and Seeker.

The test was conducted around 3 pm from the integrated test range in Chandipur, officials said.

The flight test was carried out from a land-based vertical launcher, aiming at a high-speed aerial target flying at a low altitude, news agency PTI reported.

The missile system successfully "tracked and engaged the target", officials said.

The flight test aimed at validating multiple updated elements of the weapon system, the defence officials added.

The performance of the system was "meticulously tracked and confirmed by various instruments" such as telemetry deployed at Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised the teams from DRDO and the Indian Navy for their achievement, stating that this test reaffirms the reliability and effectiveness of the VL-SRSAM weapon system.

DRDO Chairman Dr Samir V Kamat congratulated the teams and said that the system will significantly enhance the operational capabilities of the Indian Navy and serve as a force multiplier.

Before the test, around 3,100 people residing within a radius of 2.5 kilometres of the launch pad were shifted to temporary shelters, a Balasore district official said.

The district administration also informed these people that they would need to be shifted again to temporary camps on Friday.

The people have been requested to start shifting from 5 am to temporary shelters and return to their respective villages after the administration gives them a green signal, the revenue officer.

These are the measures taken in consultation with the ITR authority at Chandipur for safety, he added.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.