India test fires indigenous built BVR Air to Air missile from Su 30 fighter jet

India test fires indigenous built BVR Air to Air missile from Su 30 fighter jet

NEW DELHI - A pre-induction trial of India’s indigenously developed beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) ‘Astra’ was successfully conducted Wednesday over Bay of Bengal near Chandipur in Odisha, defence sources said.

The missile was fired from a fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force in the afternoon and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle ‘Banshi’ which it successfully engaged, the sources said.

‘Astra’ was successfully test fired by the IAF from a Su-30 aircraft that had taken off from Air Force station, Kalaikunda, a defence statement said. The missile successfully engaged a maneuvering target with high precision, meeting the mission objectives, it said.

The statement said, “In the series of trials held to date, Astra has been launched in the complete Su-30 flight envelope. The flight test assumes significance as it was part of the series of final pre-induction trials”