On Wednesday, November 2nd, India made a big advancement by successfully flight testing a Ballistic Missile Defence Interceptor (BMD), which can destroy long-range missiles and planes.
Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted a successful first flight test of a Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) interceptor AD-1 missile with a high kill altitude bracket from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha. All scattered components of the BMD armament system collaborated on the test flight.
A statement from the Ministry of Defense said, “During the flight test, all the subsystems operated as per expectations and were validated by the data recorded by a variety of range sensors including Radar, Telemetry, and Electro-Optical Tracking stations installed to capture the flight data.”
The AD-1 is a long-range interceptor missile that can destroy airplanes and long-range ballistic missiles by intercepting them at low altitudes in the upper atmosphere (exo-atmospheric) and lower atmosphere (endo-atmospheric), respectively.
The missile uses an advanced control system, navigation system, and guidance algorithm created in-country to ensure a perfect hit. The BMD Programme was conceptualized and developed by the PGAD Research Centre at the DRDO‘s headquarters in Hyderabad.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who praised the work of DRDO and the other teams involved, said that the AD-1 is a rare breed of interceptor that only a select few countries have the technical technology to produce. His tone was one of confidence that the country’s BMD capacity would be taken to the next level by this.
Long-Range Tracking Radar
In 2017, India deployed its first Very Long Range Tracking Radar (VLRTR) system. Further, the Government of India has authorized the induction of two new units for these Long Range Tracking Radar systems as part of the MoU between the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) to realize a Missile Monitoring System to detect space-borne threats in support of Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD).
As a notable example, it is believed that the DRDO‘s efforts to create anti-ballistic missiles began in the early 2000s in response to the proliferation of ballistic assets among India’s rivals.
Phase 1 of the program, which included sophisticated air defense systems and air defense systems based on the Prithvi missile, was completed by the end of the 2010s.
Additionally, efforts have been made to construct anti-ballistic defense systems that can neutralize intermediate-range ballistic missiles, such as the United States Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence system.
Under Mission Shakti
On March 27th, 2019, as part of Mission Shakti, India made history when the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) destroyed a satellite in space with an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile.
This operation proved the technical competence of the DRDO and ability to protect national assets in space, the fourth dimension of warfare.
India is now the fourth country, after the United States, Russia, and China, to possess the anti-satellite (ASAT) missile technology after successfully testing this weapon for the first time.
When a missile was fired from the ground, it had to hit a fast-moving satellite hundreds of kilometers distant in orbit and destroy it with pinpoint accuracy. This mission was one of the most complex operations ever performed by DRDO.
Test At A Glance
1. The flight test data from radar, telemetry and electro-optical tracking stations validated all subsystems.
2. DRDO experts said the fully functional ballistic missile defense system included high-power radars and could shield wide areas from an opponent’s missile or air assaults.
3. The Ballistic Missile Defence Interceptor would be flexible and able to engage multiple targets.
