Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Monday launched the 800-km range Nirbhay cruise missile from Odisha’s test facility. The test is aborted eight minutes later.
“Minutes later, the missile developed a technical snag following which the trial process was aborted. The DRDO is analysing all the details,” said a source.
The DRDO has already carried out several successful trials of the ‘Nirbhay’ missile since October 2014.
A limited number of Nirbhay missiles had been moved earlier to the border with China before Monday’s test firing.
Nirbhay is a subsonic missile, flying at a speed of 0.7 Mach, with sea-skimming and terrain-hugging capability that helps the missile stay under the enemy radar to avoid detection. The missile has a loitering capability that allows the delivery platform to manoeuvre mid-flight and at the end to hit the target. Powered by a solid rocket motor booster developed by the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), the missile has an operational range of 1000 km, officials said.
