DRDO successfully flight tests anti-tank missile Helina

Pune: India has successfully flight-tested an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), christened Helina, in Pokran on Monday. The test, conducted by DRDO, the Army and the Air Force, was part of the user validation trails of the third generation 'fire and forget' class missiles developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), The Indian Express reported.

The missile, hosted by an indigenous Advance Light Helicopter (ALH), hit the simulated tank target successfully. It is guided by an Infrared Imaging Seeker (IIR) operating in the 'lock-on before launch' mode.

Helina, praised by DRDO as one of the most advanced anti-tank weapons globally, has a range of seven kilometres. It is designed and developed to integrate into a weaponised ALH.

DRDO, in a press statement, has said that the trials were witnessed by senior Army commanders and senior scientists of DRDO.

The missile has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, under the Missiles and Strategic Systems (MSS) cluster of the DRDO. Successful user trials on the weapon have been conducted since 2018.

DRDO claimed that Helina could engage in all weathers, night or day and could destroy tanks of conventional armour or explosive reactive amour. The Air Force's version of Helina is known as Dhruvastra. It could attack in two modes: top attack and direct hit. In the former model, it would climb a certain altitude after launch and fall on top of the target, and in the latter, it travels at lower altitudes and hits the target directly.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the teams who worked in Helina's trials.

The DRDO has developed a number of anti-tank missile technologies, ranging from the Nag, Helina MPATGM, SANT, and Laser Guided ATGM for MBT Arjun.