India test fires advanced version of surface-to-air Nirbhay cruise missile
- In Reports
- 07:54 PM, Dec 07, 2021
- Myind Staff
India has successfully test-fired the advanced version of the surface-to-air Nirbhay cruise missile from a range site in the city of Balasore in the eastern state of Odisha, government sources told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"India successfully test fired the advanced version of the surface-to-air Nirbhay cruise missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore in eastern Indian state of Odisha," the sources said.
Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Nirbhay is India’s first indigenously built cruise missile. After initial hiccups, the weapon system has completed six developmental trials between 2012 and 2019. It will soon be deployed in the armed forces after a couple of user trials. The cruise missile will supplement the Indo-Russian joint venture supersonic cruise missile BrahMos.
Nirbhay is a subsonic missile, flying at a speed of 0.7 to 0.9 Mach, with sea-skimming and terrain-hugging capability that helps the missile stay under enemy radar to avoid detection. It is a two-stage missile with first stage using solid fuel and the second using liquid fuel. It carries a convention warhead of 300 kilograms weight and can hit targets up to 1500 km range. The missile is capable of flying between 50 metres to four km from ground and pick up the target before engaging and destroying it.
The missile also has a loitering capability that allows the delivery platform to manoeuvre mid-flight and at the end to hit the target by doing inflight course corrections. It can be fired from sea, land and through mobile launchers.
The missile is now going to be handed over to the army, which will conduct more tests before inducting it. After induction, Nirbhay is expected to be deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) amid the stand-off with China at multiple points in East Ladakh. The cruise missile will also supplement the Indo-Russian joint venture supersonic cruise missile BrahMos.
Image courtesy: Hindustan Times
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