BHUBANESWAR: India’s efforts to develop a robust multi-layered Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield received a significant boost with the advanced area defence (AD) interceptor successfully destroying an incoming ballistic missile in the endo-atmospheric region over the Bay of Bengal.Defence sources stated that the low-altitude supersonic interceptor missile, fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, successfully intercepted the target missile launched from Abdul Kalam Island at an altitude of less than 15 km. This was part of the Phase-II BMD system indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).“The target was launched from launching complex-IV at 4.20 pm mimicking an adversary ballistic missile, which was detected by weapon system radars deployed on land and sea and activated the AD interceptor system, which was fired from LC-III at 4.24 pm. The interceptor destroyed the target as coordinated,” said the sources.The test aimed to validate the newly developed systems and subsystems integrated into the interceptor missile. The mission met all trial objectives, validating a complete network-centric warfare weapon system consisting of long-range sensors, a low-latency communication system, and the interceptor missile.The test assumes significance as the country plans to deploy a two-tiered BMD system once the interceptors are inducted into the armed forces. India is the sixth nation to develop a robust BMD system, joining the ranks of the US, UK, Israel, Russia, and China.The Phase-II AD endo-atmospheric missile is an indigenously developed two-stage solid fuel-propelled ground-launched missile system designed to neutralise various enemy ballistic missile threats in the endo to low exo-atmospheric regions. A number of state-of-the-art indigenous technologies developed by various DRDO laboratories have been incorporated into the missile system.“The test has demonstrated the nation’s indigenous capability to defend against the ballistic missiles of 5000 km class. The performance of the missile was monitored from the flight data captured by range tracking instruments like electro-optical systems, radar and telemetry stations deployed by ITR at various locations including on-board ship,” the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.
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