Pinaka rockets, with a guidance system and an enhanced range, were successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha on Tuesday.
The earlier Pinaka version, which was an unguided one, has now been transformed into a guided version, with a navigation, guidance and control kit developed by the Research Centre, Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad.
The RCI comes under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Longer range
According to the DRDO officials, the conversion helped in enhancing the range and accuracy of Pinaka. If its range was earlier 40 km, it is more than 70 km now. Radars, electro-optical systems and telemetry systems at the ITR tracked and monitored the rocket all through its flight path. The guided version is Pinaka mark-II, which evolved from Pinaka mark-I.
G. Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and Director General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO, who was present during the launch, said, “The success of the guided Pinaka has reinforced the technological strength of the country in converting the unguided systems into weapons of high precision.”
The guided Pinaka was developed jointly by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, the RCI, and the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad. The ITR, Chandipur, provided the range and launch support.
