India has successfully test-fired the Vertically Launched Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) off the coast of Odisha on Tuesday. The air defence system is developed by the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and can engage targets at around 15 km.
"India has successfully test-fired the Vertically Launched Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from off the coast of Odisha," DRDO officials said, as quoted by the ANI news agency.
The missile system is being developed by DRDO for naval warships, and the test was done in the presence of senior navy officers. It will strengthen the defence capabilities of the Indian Navy's warships against aerial threats, and will replace the older Barak-1 surface to air missile system while providing a 360-degree aerial shield against incoming targets.
The Ministry of Defence said in a statement that the launch was conducted from a vertical launcher against an electronic target at a very low altitude. The flight path of the vehicle along with health parameters were monitored using a number of tracking instruments deployed by ITR, Chandipur. All sub-systems performed as per expectation.
In February this year, the DRDO had conducted two launches of VL-SRSAM which were a part of the maiden launch programme that demonstrated the multiple test capability of the launch campaign. The VL-SRSAM system, once integrated with the naval ships, will prove to be a force multiplier and assist defence forces against both close-range targets and sea skilling targets according to the DRDO.
The system has been developed jointly by the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research & Development Establishment (Engineers), and Research Centre Imarat (RCI) along with the participation from private industries. According to open-source information, the system is likely to be manufactured by a private sector company, in line with the government's flagship Make in India (Aatmanirbhar Bharat) programme.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had last month successfully tested the high-speed expendable aerial target (HEAT), ABHYAS, used for evaluation of various missile systems, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Bay of Bengal in Odisha.
In line with Government’s aim to strengthen border security
Last week on Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that India is developing indigenous anti-drone technology to thwart the growing threat from these devices on the country's borders, and it will soon be made available to the security forces.
Speaking on the occasion of the 57th Raising Day of the Border Security Force (BSF), Shah also said that for the Modi Government, border security is national security, and it is committed to provide the best border guarding technologies in the world to our defence forces.
"It is the commitment of the Government. There was a mention of a growing threat from drones. BSF, DRDO, and NSG are trying to develop an anti-drone technology. I have complete faith in our scientists that we will be able to develop an indigenous anti-drone technology soon," he said.