‘Nirbhay’ test-fired

Balasore, April 15

India today successfully test-fired its first indigenously designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ from a test range in Odisha.

The state-of-the-art missile, which can be deployed from multiple platforms, was test-fired at 11.44 am from the launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near here, sources in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.

Describing the trial “successful”, they said the missile, which is capable of loitering and cruising at 0.7 Mach at altitude as low as 100 m, covered the designated target range in 42 minutes and 23 seconds.

The scope of the test was to make the missile fly at ‘very low altitude’ — between 2.5 m and 5 m, making it hard to detect by ground-based radars of the enemy. It is the sixth development flight trial with an objective to prove the boost phase, cruise phase using way-point navigation at very low altitudes. The flight was tracked by a chain of electro optical tracking systems, radars and ground telemetry systems deployed all along the sea coast. — TNS/ PTI