Third flight test of India's Nirbhay Long Range Subsonic tactical cruise missile from Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, failed aft...
Third flight test of India's Nirbhay Long Range Subsonic tactical cruise missile from Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, failed after the missile deviated from the flight path.
The missile flew 128 km, before being terminated using onboard explosive charges after 700 seconds into the flight.
All initial critical operations such as Booster ignition, Booster separation. Wing deployment and engine start were successfully executed and Nirbhay reached the desired Cruise Altitude.
The first flight test in March 2013 also ended in failed, and the second flight test in 2014 was declared a partial success.
The missile nose dived after the guidance system failed to steer it according to the waypoint.
With a strike range of 750 to 1000 km, the Nirbhay is designed to hit static ground target with superior precision. The missile flies an terrain hugging flight path to evade enemy radars, and have good maneuverability and loitering capability.
Weighting 1,500 kg, Nirbhay has a length of 6 m, diameter of .52 meter and a wingspan of 2.7 m.
The two stage missile is launched from the canister by the booster, after which the Russian built turbofan engine kicks in to power the cruise stage, along with wing deployment.
Nirbhay will be the second cruise missile in Indian arsenal when inducted, supplementing the Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile which have a limited strike range of 290 km. It will close the gap with Pakistan, which have fielded the Babur cruise missile.
