New Delhi: India on Friday successfully tested the Advanced Agni missile equipped with a Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) system, capable of striking multiple targets spread over a large area, an official from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said on Saturday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO, the Indian Army, and industry partners on the successful flight test, stating that it would significantly enhance India’s defence preparedness against emerging threat perceptions.
The test was conducted over the Indian Ocean Region from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha, according to an official statement. The missile was fired with multiple payloads, each targeting different locations spatially distributed across the Indian Ocean Region.
Tracking and telemetry were carried out through multiple ground-based and ship-based stations, which monitored the entire trajectory from lift-off to the impact of all payloads. The flight data confirmed that all mission objectives were successfully achieved, the statement added.
Officials said the successful trial demonstrated India’s capability to engage multiple strategic targets using a single missile system. The missile has been developed by DRDO laboratories with support from industries across the country. The trial was witnessed by senior DRDO scientists and Indian Army personnel.
In a separate development, the DRDO and the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation (TARA) weapon off the Odisha coast.
TARA is a modular range-extension kit and India’s first indigenous glide weapon system designed to convert unguided warheads into precision-guided weapons. It has been developed by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, along with other DRDO laboratories to improve the accuracy of low-cost weapons for neutralising ground-based targets.
The system represents the first glide weapon of its kind using advanced low-cost technologies. Its development was carried out with Development-cum-Production Partners (DcPP) and Indian industry partners, several of whom have already begun production, the statement said.
With IANS Inputs