New Delhi: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) achieved a major milestone with the maiden launch of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), Army Version from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, off the Coast of Odisha around 4pm on Wednesday. The missile completely destroyed a high speed unmanned aerial target which was mimicking an aircraft with a direct hit.
The Army version of MRSAM is a surface to Air Missile developed jointly by DRDO, India and IAI, Israel for use of Indian Army. MRSAM Army weapon system comprises of Command post, Multi Function Radar and Mobile Launcher system. The complete Fire Unit has been used during the launch in deliverable configuration. The team from the users i.e. Indian Army also witnessed the launch. Number of range instruments such as Radar, Telemetry and Electro Optical Tracking System were deployed and captured the complete mission data, validating the weapon system performance including the destruction of the target.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lauded the efforts of DRDO and associated team members involved in the mission and said that India has attained a high level of capability in the indigenous design and development of advanced weapon systems.
Secretary, Department of Defence R&D, and Chairman, DRDO, Dr G. Satheesh Reddy congratulated the DRDO community for successfully demonstrating the performance of the MRSAM Army weapon system registering direct target hit in its maiden launch. He also lauded the efforts of the entire team in realising the system within record time and meeting the committed schedule.