The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated the defence scientists on the successful demonstration of India’s ballistic missile defence capability.
“Hearty congratulations to our defence scientists for the successful demonstration of ballistic missile defence capability.
With this, India joins the select group of five nations with such capability- a proud moment for the entire country.”, the Prime Minister said.
India has successfully test-fired its Advanced Air Defense interceptor against a ballistic missile traveling at low altitude.
The test on February 27, 2016, was the second within a month and is part of India’s effort to develop a multi-layer missile defense system.
“Today’s test launch was conducted in order to validate various parameters of the interceptor in flight mode,” an Indian defense official stated.
In the test, a Prithvi ballistic missile was launched from a test range at Chandipur, while the AAD interceptor was launched four minutes later from Abdul Kalam Island in the Bay of Bengal after receiving signals from tracking radars.
The AAD destroyed the Prithvi in mid-air at an endo-atmospheric altitude, or less than 60 miles high.
The AAF interceptor, fired from a mobile launcher, was a single-stage missile with a navigation system, a high-tech computer, an electro-mechanical activator and independent tracking and homing capabilities.
