The Indian Navy on Wednesday successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The missile was fired from a Seaking helicopter.
In a video shared by the Navy, the Seaking 42B helicopter can be seen firing the missile and helicopter can be seen following the Seaking and observing the test.
The 16-second video shows grey skies above the helicopters and choppy water below. Second later a trail of smoke appears on the right side of the screen - the missile launched and heading to its target.
Sensors deployed across the test range and near the impact point tracked the missile's trajectory and captured all events.
The test took place off the coast of Odisha's Balasore and met all objectives, the Navy said.
{{/usCountry}}The test took place off the coast of Odisha's Balasore and met all objectives, the Navy said.
{{/usCountry}}"This firing is a significant step towards achieving self-reliance in niche missile technology and reaffirms the Indian Navy's commitment to indigenisation," the Navy said.
"The missile followed the desired sea-skimming trajectory and reached the designated target with a high degree of accuracy, validating the control, guidance and mission algorithms. All the sub-systems performed satisfactorily," the DRDO said.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the Navy, the DRDO and all associated teams. He said India had attained a high level of capability in the design and development of missile systems.
The test-firing of this missile comes a month after an anti-ship version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired.
(With inputs from agency)