A team of scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) jointly conducted the successful flight test of the indigenously developed helicopter launched Anti-Tank Guided Missile ‘HELINA’ at high-altitude ranges on April 11,2022.

The flight trials were conducted from an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and the missile was fired successfully engaging simulated tank target. The missile is guided by an Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) Seeker operating in the Lock on Before Launch mode. It is one of the most advanced anti-tank weapons in the world.

The exercise was part of user validation trials for the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) third generation 'fire and forget' class missiles.

HELINA was intended and built for incorporation on armed versions of the ALH and has a maximum range of seven kilometres.

According to a Ministry of Defence press release, “In continuation to validation trials conducted at Pokhran, proof of efficacy at high altitudes paves the way for its integration on ALH. The trials were witnessed by senior Army commanders and senior scientists of DRDO.”

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO and the Indian Army for the maiden achievement through joint work. Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy congratulated the teams for the commendable job performed in difficult conditions.

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

DRDO scientists said that the Helina missile system has all-weather, day and night capability and can defeat battle tanks with conventional armour as well as explosive reactive armour. It has been developed for integration with choppers in both the Army and the Air Force. The Air Force version of Helina is sometimes referred to as Dhruvastra.

Helina can engage targets both in direct hit mode as well as top attack mode. In the top attack mode, the missile is required to climb sharply after launch and travel at a certain altitude and then plunge on the top of the target. In the direct hit mode, the missile travels at a lower altitude, directly striking the target.

Image source: ANI