India tests long-range sub-sonic cruise missile 'Nirbhay'

Balasore: India on Tuesday conducted a flight test of its indigenously designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile 'Nirbhay' from a test range at Chandipur along the Odisha coast.

The missile can carry warheads of up to 300 kg. 

The state-of-the-art sleek cruise missile took off from a specially designed launcher from the launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur at about 11.20 am, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) sources said.

DRDO conducts successful flight trial of 'NIRBHAY' Sub-Sonic cruise missile at ITR, Chandipur, Odisha on 07/11/17. pic.twitter.com/5hwi4ylUgE— DPR (@SpokespersonMoD) November 7, 2017

Powered by a solid rocket motor booster developed by the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), the missile has an operational range of 1000 km.

'Nirbhay' missile can travel with a turbofan or turbojet engine and is guided by a highly advanced inertial navigation system indigenously developed by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), the DRDO sources said, PTI reported.

After the missile achieves designated altitude and velocity, the booster motor is separated and the engine automatically switches on taking further propulsion, said a DRDO scientist associated with the project.

He said "mid-way in its flight, the missile's wing opens up by the commands generated by the sophisticated on-board computer for stabilising the flight path."

All along its trajectories from lift off to splash down, the missile is to be tracked with the help of ground-based radars and IAF aircraft.

The health parameters of the vehicle are being monitored by indigenous telemetry stations by a team of professionals from DRDO's ITR and LRDE (Electronics and Radar Development Establishment).

The two-stage missile is 6 metre long, 0.52 metre wide with a wing span of 2.7 metre. It can carry a warhead of 200 kg to 300 kg at a speed of 0.6 to 0.7 Mach. Its launch weight is about 1500 kg, the sources said.

Hailing the success of DRDO scientists, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman complimented them for this inspired achievement. 

Smt @nsitharaman congratulates @DRDO_India for successfully flight testing 'Nirbhay' #MakeInIndia pic.twitter.com/sly3jkIX8U — Raksha Mantri (@DefenceMinIndia) November 7, 2017

This was the fifth experimental test of the home-grown missile system.

The maiden test flight of 'Nirbhay' held on March 12, 2013 had to be terminated midway for safety reasons due to malfunction of a component.

However, the second launch on October 17, 2014 was successful.

In the next trial conducted on October 16, 2015, the missile deviated from its path after covering 128 km.

The last test flight held on December 21, 2016 had to be aborted after 700 seconds of its test flight as it deviated from its designated path. 

(With PTI inputs)