Hemant Kumar Rout By

After nearly two years, Indian Armed forces on Friday successfully conducted a fresh trial of surface-to-air medium range anti-aircraft missile Akash from a defence base off the Odisha coast.

The missile destroyed a tow body suspended from an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Defence sources said the missile was launched from the launching complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea at around 11.22 am. Prior to the launching of the missile, a Pilot-less Target Aircraft (PTA) was flown from the launching complex-II at 11.02 am.

The mission boosted the air defence shield of the country and re-validated the weapon’s operational efficiency. During the trial, the missile was aimed at intercepting a floating object supported by the PTA at a definite altitude over the Bay of Bengal.

A defence official said the test was to gauge the flight consistency and effectiveness of the missile. “The trial was cent per cent successful. The missile with live warheads destroyed the target suspended from the PTA. The entire flight was captured by electro-optical tracking systems. Four more trials are likely to be conducted in next few days,” he said. Akash is a medium-range surface-to-air missile and can reach targets 25 km away. A reliable source, however, informed that the missile on Friday covered around 16 km and destroyed the target with a few metres accuracy.

The missile is crucial to India’s air defence programme as it will be used to counter ballistic and cruise missiles, enemy aircrafts and air-to-surface missiles.

It can handle multiple targets with the help of a digitally coded command and guidance system. It can also be fired from tracked vehicles. While its land variant was inducted in the Army in 2008, the air version was handed over to the IAF later.