India has successfully test-fired an indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile. It is capable of destroying a hostile ballistic missile, from a test range off the Odisha coast. At around 12.52 hours, the interceptor hit the target missile successfully at an altitude of about 15 kilometres. The test was conducted to validate various parameters of the interceptor in flight mode. This is the eighth trial.

About the missile:-

• The hostile ballistic missile, a modified surface-to-surface ‘Prithvi ‘, mimicking an incoming enemy weapon, first lifted off from a mobile launcher at around 12.52 hours from the launch complex-3 of integrated test range(ITR) at Chandipur-on-Sea, about 15 km from Balasore.
• Within about four minutes, the interceptor, Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile positioned at Wheeler Island, about 70 km from Chandipur, after getting signals from tracking radars, roared through its trajectory to destroy the incoming missile mid-air, in an “endo-atmospheric” altitude.
• The interceptor is a 7.5-metre-long single-stage solid rocket propelled guided missile equipped with a navigation system, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical activator.
• The interceptor missile had its own mobile launcher, secure data link for interception, independent tracking and homing capabilities, besides sophisticated radars.
• The ‘kill’ effect of the interceptor is being ascertained by analysing data from multiple tracking sources.

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