Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of a sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal on April 21, 2023.

A spokesperson of the Indian Navy tweeted, “The trial further augments #IndianNavy’s combat capabilities aimed at making it a #FutureProofForce ready to preserve, protect & promote #India’s Maritime interests. This successful firing is a significant milestone by @DRDO_India & #IndianNavy towards #AatmaNirbharBharat”, through its official Twitter handle.

The purpose of the trial was to engage and neutralize a hostile ballistic missile threat thereby elevating India into the elite club of Nations having Naval BMD capability.

Prior to this, DRDO successfully demonstrated a land-based BMD system with the capability to neutralize ballistic missile threats, emerging from adversaries.

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, the Indian Navy, and the Industry involved in the successful demonstration of ship-based Ballistic Missile defence capabilities.

Secretary DDR&D and Chairman DRDO Dr. Samir V Kamat complimented the teams involved in the design and development of the missile. He said that the nation has achieved self-reliance in developing highly-complex network-centric anti-ballistic missile systems.

PM Modi tweeted, “Congratulations to our scientists for their continuous grit and determination to further strengthen our defence capabilities”, through his official Twitter handle.

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