Successful missile trials have been conducted by Indian Air Force (IAF) off coast of Chandipur, Odisha. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) flight tested Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) ‘Astra’ from Su-30 MKI platform. trails were held from September 16-19, 2019, against Jet Banshee target aircraft, simulating all possible threat scenarios.

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Successful Missile Trials

A total of five trials were conducted over course of this period, with missiles being tested in different configurations. During campaign, three missiles were launched in combat configuration with warhe and maeuvring targets were neutralised to establish end game capability of missile. trial campaign also included a direct hit of target by telemetered missile at maximum range. All subsystems performed accurately meeting all mission parameters and objectives.

present flight trials have proved end to end performance of missile system in various combat scenarios giving greater confidence to users. five successful trials of Astra will culminate into induction of missile system into Indian Air Force, which will certainly be a force multiplier considering its accuracy and effectiveness in neutralising aerial threats.

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Astra BVRAAM

Astra BVRAAM has a range of more than 100 km with modern guidance and navigation techniques. missile has midcourse guidance and RF seeker based terminal guidance to achieve target destruction with pinpoint accuracy.

user trial phase of weapon system has thus been completed successfully. state-of--art BVRAAM was built by DRDO along with IAF. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has played a role in modifying aircraft for weapon integration. Apart from m, more than 50 public and private industries have contributed to building Astra weapon system.

Dr. G Saesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO, congratulated team ‘Astra’ for developing and flight testing such a formidable class of weapon system. techlogies developed under programme will be building blocks for development of future variants of Air-to-Air and Surface-to-Air Missiles.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO and IAF teams for successful trials.

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