Our Bureau

New Delhi, May 18

The Indian Navy successfully test fired an indigenously built naval anti-ship missile from a Seaking 42B helicopter at the integrated test range, Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha on Wednesday.

Developed by DRDO in association with Indian Navy, the mission, a first for the Navy, “met all its objectives”, said the Defence Ministry.

“The missile followed the desired sea-skimming trajectory and reached the designated target with high degree of accuracy, validating the control, guidance and mission algorithms. All the sub-systems performed satisfactorily. The sensors deployed across the test range and near impact point tracked the missile trajectory and captured all the events,” said a ministry statement.

The missile system incorporated many new technologies, including an indigenously developed launcher for the helicopter, it said. The missile guidance system includes state-of-the-art navigation system and integrated avionics.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO, Indian Navy and associated teams for the maiden developmental flight test and said this showed that India has attained a high level of capability in the indigenous design and development of missile systems.

Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development, and chairman, DRDO, G Satheesh Reddy, appreciated the efforts of the project team. Senior officers of DRDO and the Indian Navy witnessed the flight test at Ballasore test range.