Achi news desk-
New Delhi: In its relentless pursuit of military hegemony, amid an arms race in South Asia, India has successfully launched a completely home-made Nirbhay cruise missile, its defense ministry said on Thursday.
India’s Defense Research and Development Organization conducted the test flight from the Chandipur Integrated Test Range, located off the coast of Odisha state.
“During the test, all the subsystems performed as expected… the flight of the missile was also monitored from the Su-30-Mk-I aircraft of the Indian Air Force,” the statement said.
The ministry stated that the missile followed the desired path using waypoint navigation and performed a hovering flight at a very low altitude.
“This successful flight test also established the reliable performance of the indigenous propulsion system,” the ministry added.
The missile, also known as the Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM), is equipped with an indigenous propulsion system and Manik’s turbofan engine.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh termed the successful development of an “indigenous long-range subsonic cruise missile powered by indigenous propulsion” as a “major milestone” for Indian defense research and development.
The nuclear-capable, solid-fueled Nirbhay has a reported range of 800-1,000 km while carrying a payload of 200-300 kg.
