India’s Defence Research and Development flight tested the Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile Tuesday.
India’s Ministry of Defence revealed that the surface-to-air missile was launched from a “vertical launcher against an electronic target at a very low altitude,” validating the integrated functioning of all the weapon’s components, including the launcher, canisterised flight vehicle, and weapon control system. It was the second test of the ship-launched missile.
“The flight path of the vehicle along with health parameters were monitored using a number of tracking instruments deployed by ITR, Chandipur. All sub-systems performed as per expectation,” the ministry wrote.
Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile launched to validate integrated operation of weapon system components including the vertical launcher with controller, canisterised flight vehicle and weapon control system. https://t.co/eAuE30IHhd pic.twitter.com/P8DvwEWWAl
— DRDO (@DRDO_India) December 7, 2021
Can Detect Highly Maneuverable Targets
With a range of 15 km (9.3 miles), the indigenously-developed missile is designed to neutralize close-range aerial threats, including hard-to-detect sea-skimming missiles. The weapon is equipped with an active high-end radio frequency seeker to detect highly maneuverable targets with low radar cross-sections.
According to Indian news outlet The Week, the missile could replace the Israeli Barak 1 missile currently deployed on Indian Navy vessels.
