NEW DELHI – India on Monday successfully test-fired its first indigenouslydesigned and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ from atest range in Odisha.
The state-of-the-art missile, which can be deployed from multipleplatforms, was test-fired at 11.44 am from launch complex-3 of theIntegrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near here, sources in DefenceResearch and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.
Describing the trial “successful”, they said the missile, which is capableof loitering and cruising at 0.7 Mach at altitude as low as 100 metre,covered the designated target range in 42 minutes and 23 seconds.
The flight test achieved all the mission objectives, right from lift offtill the final splash, boosting the confidence of all scientists associatedwith the trial, sources said, adding it has an engine with rocket boosterand turbofan/jet.
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The sophisticated missile took off in a programmed manner and all criticaloperations like launch phase, booster deployment, engine start, wingdeployment and other parameters were demonstrated through autonomous waypoint navigation.
“The missile majestically cruised and covered its given range,” they said,adding that it was tracked with the help of ground-based radars and otherparameters were monitored by indigenous telemetry stations developed byDRDO.
