Indigenously developed cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ test-fired

Balasore (Odisha): India on Friday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’, which can strike targets more than 700 kms away, from a test range at Chandipur near here.
“The missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher positioned at launch pad 3 of Integrated Test Range at about 10.03 AM and the trial was totally successful,” an official associated with the test said.
“The flight path of the missile was 1.13 hrs,” the official said, adding that all desired parameters were met during the trial.
“The outcome of the trial was ascertained by analysing the data retrieved from radars and telemetry points, monitoring the trajectories,” the official said.  It is the second test of the sub-sonic long range cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’, which has a range of 700 to 1000 km, from the ITR.
The maiden flight, conducted on March 12, 2013 could not achieve all the desired parameters as “the flight had to be terminated mid-way when deviations were observed from its intended course,” sources said.
India has in its arsenal the 290 km range supersonic “BrahMos” cruise missile which is jointly developed by India and Russia.
But ‘Nirbhay’ with long range capability is a different kind of missile being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Nirbhay has good loitering capability, good control and guidance, high degree of accuracy in terms of impact and very good stealth features. (PTI)