DRDO, Indian Navy conduct BMD Interceptor’s successful trial from Naval platform off Odisha coast

The purpose of the trial was to engage and neutralise a hostile ballistic missile threat

The exercise elevates India into the elite club of nations having Naval BMD (Ballistic Missile Defence) capability

By Prabhat Singh

Bhubaneswar, April 24: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy have successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of a sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal.

As per a Press Information Bureau (PIB) report, the purpose of the trial, which was conducted on April 21 evening, was to engage and neutralise a hostile ballistic missile threat, thereby elevating India into the elite club of nations having Naval BMD (Ballistic Missile Defence) capability.

Earlier, the DRDO successfully demonstrated a land-based BMD system with the capability to neutralize ballistic missile threats, emerging from adversaries.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, the Indian Navy and Industry involved in the successful demonstration of ship-based BMD capabilities.

Dr Samir V Kamat, secretary of Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) and DRDO chairman, also complimented the teams involved in the design and development of the missile. He said that the nation has achieved self-reliance in developing highly-complex network-centric anti-ballistic missile systems.