Indigenously designed air-to-air missile Astra successfully test-fired

Beyond-visual-range missile Astra was launched from a Sukhoi-30 MKI as a part of user trials.

Astra, beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, was successfully test-fired from Sukhoi-30 MKI as a part of user trials, off Odisha on September 17, 2019. Photo courtesy: DRDO

Indigenously designed air-to-air missile Astra was successfully test-fired from the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Odisha on September 17.

The beyond-visual-range missile was launched from a Sukhoi-30 MKI as a part of user trials.

A defence official said that as part of the trial, a live aerial target was engaged, accurately demonstrating the capability of the missile.

“The mission profile was executed in a textbook manner,” said an official.

 

Radars, the electro-optical tracking system and sensors tracked the missile and confirmed its engagement with the target.

Astra, designed by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), is capable of engaging targets of different ranges and altitudes, including long-range as well as short-range targets.