How India joined the elite club of nations with advanced ballistic missile defence capability

DRDO has stepped up on the ballistic missile defence as Pakistan is acquiring missiles with multiple warheads

Updated on: Jun 15, 2026, 19:15:27 IST

By Shishir Gupta

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

India's defence research establishment achieved a major milestone after successfully conducting three consecutive missile flight tests on June 10 and 11, demonstrating key technologies for ballistic missile defence and anti-ship warfare capabilities.

Top government sources told HT that DRDO tested two interceptor missiles capable of neutralising enemy missiles with ranges between 2,000 km and 5,000 km

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said the trials showcased India's multi-layered defence architecture against long-range ballistic missile threats as well as its ability to engage hostile naval targets at medium range.

According to DRDO, the multi-layered Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system successfully intercepted its designated targets during the tests. The interceptors engaged and destroyed incoming ballistic missile targets, validating technologies developed to counter emerging and advanced missile threats.

Also Read | 'Please help, please, all crew Indian': SOS call as ship, trying to cross Hormuz, hit by US missile

Top government sources told HT that DRDO tested two interceptor missiles capable of neutralising enemy missiles with ranges between 2,000 km and 5,000 km, classified as Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs). The interceptors, which have not been identified by the Modi government, are both exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric. Sources said the interceptor missiles will soon be headed for user trials after the completion of test trials.

The reason why DRDO has accorded ballistic missile defence high priority is because Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missiles such as Fateh-I, Fateh-II and the Chinese-origin P282, the sources said.

The successful demonstrations place India among a select group of countries possessing the capability to defend against ballistic missile attacks, including threats posed by long-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the organisation said.

In a separate milestone, DRDO also carried out the maiden flight test of the Naval Anti-Ship Missile-Medium Range (NASM-MR). The test demonstrated the missile's anti-ship capability at medium ranges, strengthening the Indian armed forces' maritime strike options.

Also Read | India slams Pakistan over deadly crackdown on protesters in PoK

The trials were witnessed by senior officials from DRDO and the Indian Armed Forces. Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and DRDO Chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh closely monitored the missions and praised the coordinated efforts of DRDO scientists, industry partners and the armed forces for successfully executing multiple complex tests within a span of 24 hours.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO on the successful demonstrations, saying the achievement would significantly strengthen India's defence preparedness and enhance its capability to counter a wide range of aerial and maritime threats.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.