Balasore: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Thursday successfully test-fired an Advanced Area Defence (AAD) supersonic interceptor missile from a defence test facility on Kalam Island, off Odisha coast.
The interceptor was engaged against a target missile, a modified version of Prithvi-II, launched from a launching complex of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Balasore, about 70 km from the Kalam Island.
The interceptor positioned at Abdul Kalam Island very effectively destroyed the incoming hostile missile mid-air, in a low altitude (endo-atmospheric) at less than 30 km, a DRDO source said.
The DRDO termed the test a “brilliant” mission and a “success”. The home-grown high-speed weapon system can eliminate incoming enemy ballistic missiles at an altitude of 30 km.
The test comes just five days after the DRDO launched a quick reaction surface-to-air missile (QRSAM) from the defence base.
The AAD interceptor missile was successfully test fired for the first time from the Launching Complex-III of the ITR at Chandipur in 2006. The DRDO had also successfully carried out its last test on May 2016.
