India has successfully tested the second phase of its anti-ballistic missile defense (BMD) system. India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has conducted a successful ‘flight’ test of an indigenously developed 5,000 km range anti-ballistic missile system.
The news agency PTI reported this news quoting the country’s defense minister on Wednesday.
The defense minister said that the new missile was successfully tested from the ‘Integrated Test Range’ (ITR) in Odisha’s Chandipur. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO scientists for the successful flight test.
According to DRDO sources, this new ballistic missile will be effective in preventing enemy missile attacks. The missile has already undergone preliminary tests of its practical maneuverability and targeting capabilities under the supervision of the Indian Army’s new Strategic Force Command. Wednesday is the second phase of the exam. However, it is said that this new missile is not a ballistic missile of the ‘Agni’ series.
India destroyed one of its own missiles for this test. The ‘Target’ missile, modeled after a long-range ballistic missile, was first launched from Odisha’s Dhamra Missile Launch Complex at 4:20 p.m. The missile was launched in such a way that it behaved like an enemy ballistic missile.
But ground and sea-based radars quickly detected the missile. After this BMD system started work to launch the ‘Advanced Area Defense’ interceptor missile at 4:24 from Chandipur in Baleshwar.
According to DRDO sources, within a few moments, the missile fired at them was destroyed in the air by India’s anti-ballistic missile system.
It should be noted that till now India has not been able to develop any strong air defense system in that way. The BMD system is still in the experimental stage. If all tests are successful, India is expected to develop its first air defense system by 2028-29.
Although India does not yet have its own anti-ballistic missile system, China, Russia, America and Israel have systems to protect their skies.
If DRDO can successfully develop a two-tier anti-ballistic missile system, India will join the list along with China, Russia, America and Israel. Some European countries also claim to have ‘air defense systems’. But there is no proof of that.
India’s BMD system, once developed, is expected to be capable of intercepting long-range ballistic missile attacks from the enemy side.
The ground-to-air long-range attack defense system will mainly do three things. Identifying targets through radar, moving quickly to hit those targets and intercepting missile attacks.
Experts claim that if India’s BMD system is successfully developed, it can be more effective than Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’, Russia’s air defense system ‘S-400 system’ and America’s ‘Patriot’.
Overall, the two-tiered anti-ballistic missile system will increase India’s air defense many fold. It will ensure security of Indian airspace by destroying enemy missiles at long range.
Notably, India already has the S-400 air defense system from Russia. According to sources in the Ministry of Defence, it is very necessary for India to have such an ‘air defense system’ at present due to threats emanating from neighboring countries like Pakistan and China.
On Wednesday, India successfully tested the second phase of the indigenously developed air defense system.
However, for this test, the residents of the villages around three and a half kilometers around the test site were evacuated. About 10,000 to 20,000 villagers were relocated.
If the test was not successful, the missile launched from the Dhamra Missile Launch Complex could have hit the ground and exploded. As a result, there was a risk of loss. And that is why those villagers were evacuated.
