NEW DELHI – The Pinaka rocket system can destroy 900 square metres at a20-80 km range by firing a salvo of 12 rockets within 48 seconds.
India has been conducting a series of tests of its missile system sinceNovember. The tests hold significance as the country’s army chief recentlywarned of an escalation on the border with Pakistan.
The Pinaka Missile System, developed by the Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO), was again successfullylinktestedon Friday off the Odisha coast. The short-range guided system is equippedwith a state-of-the-art guidance kit comprising of an advanced navigationand control system.
“The mission objective of today’s trial was to test the low range,functioning of live warheads along with their proximity initiation andsalvo launches.
Two Pinaka missiles were launched in salvo mode with a 60 second intervalbetween firings. Both the missiles were launched to engage a target locatedat the 20 kilometres range, and high accuracy was achieved. The flightswere tracked by multiple range systems including Telemetry, Radars,Electro-optical targeting systems (EOTS), etc. which confirmed their textbook flight performance,” the official statement said.
*Two Tests on Thursday*
This is the third missile test by Indialinkwithin24 hours. On Thursday, India had also successfully test-fired two missilesystems – the Pinaka-guided rocket system and the all-weathertracked-chassis Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QR-SAM) – fromChandipur in Odisha.
The upgraded version of the Pinaka-guided rocket system was test-fired fromthe DRDO’s Proof and Experimental Establishment Firing Test Range while theQR-SAM was tested from a mobile launcher at a launch complex of theIntegrated Test Range.
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QR-SAM can receive enemy radars and is capable of destroying aerialtargets, tanks, bunkers and short-range missiles. Also, developed by DRDO,the missile has a strike range of 25 km to 30 km. It uses solid-fuelpropellants and has the capability of engaging multiple targets.
The all-weather and all-terrain missile, which can be mounted on a truckand stored in a canister, is equipped with electronic countermeasuresagainst jamming by aircraft radars.
The DRDO has been conducting a series of tests on the country’s new missilesystem for the past month against the backdrop of mounting tensions at thewestern border along the Line of Control.
On Tuesday, the DRDO, Indian Air Force (IAF), and BrahMos jointlysuccessfully conducted two BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles tests, oneeach from land and air platforms.
Indian Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat, on Wednesday, had warned that thesituation could escalate at any time with Pakistanlink.The Pakistan military has also said that it is ready to respond to India incase of any misadventures by New Delhi, Sputnik has reported.
