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ASTRA - a new missile in India's armoury

Bhubaneswar, Sat, 13 Sep 2008 NI Wire

India on Saturday added one more missile in its armoury. The indigenously developed air-to-air missile 'Astra' incorporated with a unique technique of penetrating beyond visual range was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) of Chandipur off the Orissa coast.


Smallest and lightest among other missiles developed so far, Astra is just 3.6 metres long, 7 inches in diameter with a launch weight of about 154 kg. It is capable of carrying 15 kg war head and able to intercept fast-moving targets at supersonic speeds (1.2 to 1.4 Mach).

The solid fuelled Astra Missile is armed with advanced guidance equipment and can achieve velocity up to Mach 4, four times the speed of sound. Its exact range though was not revealed but reportedly it has the capacity to penetrate up to 110 kilometres.

Astra, which means weapon in Sanskrit terminology, has been developed by the state-run Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

The test is though successful on its navigation, control, air frame, propulsion and other sub-system, but there may be some more tests in the coming days before finally incorporating it into the defence armoury, a defence official said.

The missile was initially planned to arm Jaguar, MIG 29 and other indigenous light combat aircraft, the DRDO officials are now planning to integrate it with Air Force's main fighter aircraft such as Sukhoi-30 MKIs and Mirage-2000.


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