News
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
India’s missile shield test fails
BHUBANESWAR: India’s homegrown interceptor defence shield developed to detect and destroy incoming ballistic missiles failed during a test on Monday, military officials said.
The test was abandoned when the radars following the target, Prithvi II, a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile, lost track of it after it blasted off from a site 200 kilometres from Bhubaneswar in eastern India.
“The ‘hostile’ missile went off the radars after it took off and deviated from its trajectory, so the interceptor was not launched,” an official from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said, asking not to be named.
DRDO spokesman Ravi Gupta in New Delhi confirmed the 23-foot interceptor missile was not launched during Monday’s botched test.
The test is believed to be routine and part of an ongoing series of trials, which would provide protection against incoming missiles.
The system’s tracking and fire control radars have been developed by the DRDO jointly with Israel and France.
If the interceptor missile can be transformed into a viable defence system, it would see India join an elite club of nations with working missile shields. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk