The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Monday successfully test fired the underdevelopment long range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in Odisha.
“It is the sixth development flight trial with objective to prove the repeatability of boost phase, cruise phase using way point navigation at very low altitudes,” DRDO said in a statement adding the missile demonstrated its sea-skimming capability to cruise at very low altitudes.
Nirbhay has a range of 1000 km and can fly very low to the ground to avoid detection by enemy radar called terrain hugging capability. “During today’s test, the missile demonstrated the terrain hugging capability by covered way-points as low as 5 m to maximum 2.5 km (altitude),” a defence source said.
At each waypoint the altitude was varied and it had a sustained flight at different altitudes including at 5m. “It was tested upto a range of 700 km,” the source stated.
Of the six test trials, three were failed and three were successful. No other indigenous missile has been tested at such altitude, the source added.
The missile was primarily designed and developed by the Advanced Defence Establishment of DRDO located in Bengaluru in cooperation with other DRDO laboratories.
Once inducted, Nirbhay , similar to U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile, will give Indian armed forces a long range standoff capability to strike targets on land.
The missile took off vertically turning horizontally into desired direction, booster separated, wing deployed, engine started and cruised all the intended waypoints, DRDO stated and added the entire flight was fully tracked by a chain of electro optical tracking systems, radars and ground telemetry systems deployed all along the sea coast.
