Preparing India’s missile defence shield, DRDO tests Interceptor

New Delhi, Feb 10, 2012: Inching closer towards having a missile defence shield, India on Friday test fired an interceptor missile that killed an incoming ballistic missile at the height of 15 kms off the coast of Orissa, near the Wheelers Island.

The successful testing of the Air Defence Missile AAD-05 made India the fifth country in the world after US, UK, Russia and China with ballistic missile defence capabilities.

In what was termed a “textbook launch” as the radars at different locations tracked the flight path of a modified Prithvi missile, mimicking the ballistic missile fired from ITR Chandipur, an interceptor missile was ready to take-off at Wheelers Island.

A DRDO statement said: “Guidance computers continuously computed the trajectory of ballistic missile and launched AAD-05 interceptor missile at a precisely calculated time. With the target trajectory continuously updated by the radar, the on board guidance computer guided the AAD-05 interceptor missile towards the target missile.  The onboard radio frequency seeker identified the target missile, guided the AAD-05 interceptor missile close to the target missile, hit the target missile directly and destroyed it.  Warhead also exploded and destroyed the target missile into pieces.”

Radar and electro optic tracking systems (EOTS) have tracked the missile and also recorded the fragments of target missile falling into the Bay of Bengal.  “It is one of the finest missions where the interceptor has hit the incoming ballistic missile directly and destroyed it at a 15 kms altitude. The mission was carried out in the final deliverable user configuration mode,” the statement read.

The test was witnessed by DRDO Chief and the Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister Dr. VK Saraswat and Chief Controller R&D (Missiles) Avinash Chander.

The missile shield is envisaged to have highly sensitive radars to track incoming missiles and an interceptor that can destroy it. The guidance system in the shield would ensure that the two missiles collide within a matter of seconds, thereby saving vital targets from destruction.

Baptised as the Prithvi Air Defence system, the agile interceptor has now been renamed as Pradyumna.  DRDO needs to carry out at least three to four trials with both versions before the missile shield ready for operational use.

DRDO claims its missile system is comprable to the Israeli Arrow system and the American Patriot system, both of whose manufacturers are courting the Indian defence establishment for likely orders.

DRDO expects ballistic missile shield to take care of threats from existing Chinese and Pakistani missiles. While Pakistan possesses missiles with ranges between 400 and 2,000 km, the Chinese arsenal varies from a range of 300 km to 2,800 km.

The Indian interceptor can carry a warhead weighing up to 25 kg.