DRDO on Wednesday carried out maiden flight test of Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) AD-1 missile

By- Banibrata Datta, Editorial (FTFMI)

The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday carried out maiden flight test of Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) AD-1 missile with participation of all ballistic missile defence weapon system elements based in various locations.

The test flight was carried out with large kill altitude bracket, from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha, India.

What is AD-1 missile?

The AD-1 is a long-range interceptor missile designed for both low exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric interception of long-range ballistic missiles as well as aircraft.

It is propelled by a two-stage solid motor and equipped with indigenously-developed advanced control system, navigation and guidance algorithm to precisely guide the vehicle to the target.

During the flight-test, all the sub-systems performed as per expectations and were validated by the data captured by a number of range sensors including Radar, Telemetry and Electro Optical Tracking stations deployed to capture the flight data, said Ministry of Defence in a statement.

Terming it as a unique type of interceptor with advanced technologies available with a very few nations in the world, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO and other teams associated with the successful flight trial of AD-1. He exuded confidence that it will further strengthen the country’s BMD capability to the next level.

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