New Delhi: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday, May 18, successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the indigenously developed Naval Anti-ship missile in Odisha. A video released by the Indian Navy showed that the missile followed a sea-skimming trajectory and reached the designated target with a high degree of accuracy.
#IndianNavy in association with @DRDO_India successfully undertook maiden firing of the first indigenously developed Naval #AntiShip Missile from Seaking 42B helo, today #18May 22 at ITR, Balasore.#AatmaNirbharBharat #MaritimeSecurity@DefenceMinIndia @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/3AA0F3kIsS
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 18, 2022
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, Indian Navy and associated teams for the maiden developmental flight test and said that India attained a high level of capability in the indigenous design and development of missile systems.
Secretary DD R&D and Chairman DRDO, Dr G Satheesh Reddy appreciated the efforts of the project team and congratulated the DRDO community for successfully proving mission objectives. He also complimented the Indian Navy and Naval Flight Test Squadron for their support to the project and said that the system will strengthen offensive capability of Indian Navy.
The missile was launched from Seaking 42B Naval Helicopter from ITR Balasore. According to the Indian Navy, it is the country’s first indigenous air-launched Anti-ship missile system .
This firing is a significant step towards achieving self-reliance in niche missile technology and reaffirms the Indian Navy’s commitment to indigenisation.
The Navy said that all the sub-systems performed satisfactorily. The sensors deployed across the test range and near the impact point tracked the missile trajectory and captured all the events.
The missile employed many new technologies including an indigenously developed launcher for the helicopter. The missile guidance system includes state-of-the-art navigation system and integrated avionics. The flight test was witnessed by senior officers of DRDO and the Indian Navy.