Source:-Successful Flight Test of Astra BVR Air-to-Air Missile
Astra, the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM), was successfully test fired by the Indian Air Force from Su-30 aircraft, today from Air Force Station, Kalaikunda. The missile successfully engaged a manoeuvring target with high precision meeting the mission objectives.
In the series of trials held to date, Astra has been launched in the complete Su-30 flight envelope. The flight test assumes significance as it was part of the series of final pre-induction trials. Astra is the best in class weapon system and has undergone more than twenty developmental trials.
Astra is the very 1st Air-to-Air missile make in India. The seeker is not Indian, but pretty much most of all the other building blocks are Indian. The Indian engineers & scientists, as one can imagine, had to go through a very steep learning curve to bring the Astra missile to fruition. So the missile’s capabilities might seem like a mirror of some of the existing missiles. A lot of critical technologies related to propulsion, guidance and control surface actuation were perfected. As a result, India will soon have a home-cooked BVR munition at a steep discount and custom made to the Air force’s requirements, replacing for most part, the R-77 and the Matra Super-530D.
THE MAIN PURPOSE OF ASTRA IS TO REPLACE THE R77 FROM IAF. BEING A FIFTH GENERATION MISSILE , IT WOULD PROVIDE TRUE BEYOND VISUAL RANGE CAPABILITY WITH GREATER STRATEGIC DEPTH FOR THE INDIAN AIR FORCE. BEING SMOKE FREE AND HAVING TWO WAY DATA LINK IT PROVIDES VERY LESS CHANCES TO ENEMY TO BE ALERT ABOUT IT.
Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman lauded the efforts of Indian Air Force, DRDO and associated team members involved in the mission and said India has attained a high level of capability in the indigenous design and development of advanced weapon systems.
Source:- PIB
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