New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) today successfully test fired an indigenously built air-to-air missile, today. The missile called Astra was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and has a range of 70 km.
A defence statement said, “The live aerial target was engaged accurately demonstrating the capability of first indigenous air-to-air missile.”
Astra was test fired from a Sukhoi-30 MKI jet off the cost of Odisha. A defence statement said that the missile can fly towards the target at a speed of 5,555 km per hour. The missile has a 15 kg high explosive pre-fragmented warhead and is capable of destroying targets of different ranges and altitudes.
The missile was tracked by various radars, electro-optical tracking system and sensors during the test. All the measurements confirmed that the missile had hit the target.
After the successful test, Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, congratulated the DRDO and the Indian Air Force.
