Maiden test flight of India’s first indigenously developed sub-sonic cruise missile-Nirbhay on Tuesday ended unsuccessful, as it had to be...
However, the DRDO said the missile successfully met the basic mission objectives and performed some of the manouveres satisfactorily before being terminated midway.
Nirbhay was successfully launched at 1150 hrs from launch complex, Chandipur, Odisha. After travelling approximately mid-way, deviations were observed from its intended course. Further, flight was terminated to ensure coastal safety, DRDO said in a press release.The flight was terminated after 20-minutes. Nirbhay travelled almost 250 km towards the target after the launch, but a technical snag dented its designated flight path, forcing the Range Safety Wing at the Interim Test Range (ITR) in Balasore to abort the mission.
Mission was aborted by switching off its Russian built turbojet engine.
“The lift-off from the canister, the booster separation, ignition of cruise vehicle engine at high altitude, wing deployment, control guidance and way-point navigation capabilities have been proven. For a missile designers these are crucial milestones achieved,” Avinash Chander, Chief Controller (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO told Indian Express.
We will study what went wrong and get back with another missile within six-eight months so as to go the full distance, he added.
The surface-to-surface sub-sonic cruise missile has the capability of being launched from land, sea and air. Nirbhay has good loitering capability, good control and guidance, high degree of accuracy in terms of impact and very good stealth features.
Nirbhay was developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment(ADE), a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory based in Bangalore.
The 1,000-km range subsonic missile is a two-stage weapon system that has been under development for seven years.
Nirbhay takes off from a road mobile launcher after a booster engine kicks the first stage. After the booster separates, the second stage, which has a turbo-jet engine, cruises at an altitude of 500 metres to one km. It will travel for a long time at a speed of 0.67 Mach. Aviation kerosene is the fuel.
