The Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM), developed jointly by India and Israel, was successfully flight-tested against a flying target in a range in Israel on Monday.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have collaborated in developing the state-of-the-art weapon system. The multi-role missile has a range of 70 km and has sea-skimming capability and could take on anti-ship function too, DRDO sources said.
The missile would be ready for deployment of Indian Navy as well as Israeli Navy in a year. It would also be inducted into the Indian Air Force, followed by the Army. Its agility was better than Akash missile and LRSAM could be deployed against different types of targets, the sources added. DRDO has produced the propulsion system, while IAI contributed the front portion of the missile.
Even as another three to four more development trials are planned, the sources said the deployment, however, would be taken up concurrently. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has already started the work on production related infrastructure. According to a DRDO press release on Monday, all the systems including the radar, communication launch systems and the missile system have performed as expected and hit the target directly and damaged it. The system is developed for both Israel Defence Forces and Indian Armed Forces, it said.
The test was carried out in the presence of Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, Dr. Avinash Chander, IAI President, Joseph Weiss, DRDO scientists, officials of the Indian armed forces and top officials of Israel defence forces. Dr. Avinash termed the event as a milestone in cooperation between the two countries in developing advanced weapon systems. Dr. V.G. Sekaran, Director-General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO too said the successful flight-test was an important milestone.
