An indigenously developed interceptor missile on Saturday successfully destroyed an incoming ballistic missile in a direct hit, demonstrating the capability of India’s Ballistic Missile Shield (BMD), which is under development.
“At 07.45 hrs today, India successfully conducted a test wherein an incoming ballistic missile target was intercepted by an exo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the Bay of Bengal,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement. As part of the test, a target missile mimicking an enemy ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km was launched from an Indian Navy ship stationed in the Bay of Bengal and the missile travelled towards the coast, reaching a very high altitude, officials said. It was engaged and destroyed at a height of over 50 km.
“The weapon systems radars located far off have detected and tracked the target. The mission computer predicting the trajectory of the target has launched the interceptor missile from Dr. Abdul Kalam Island at appropriate time based on the trajectory of the target missile. The whole operation was without man in the loop,” defence sources said.
The BMD is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a two layered system to tackle incoming targets at endo and exo atmospheres.
“The mission proved the efficacy of many indigenous technologies developed for the weapon system and it was a perfect mission where we could score a direct hit,” a senior DRDO official stated.
PM’s pat for scientists
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the scientific community on social media. “I want to congratulate our scientists for successful testing of missile that can destroy other missiles in the air itself,” he said.
The Ministry statement added that, with this test, India has crossed an important milestone and has entered an exclusive club of four nations with developing capabilities to secure its skies and cities against hostile threats.
