The Defense Research and Development Organization will launch the 800-km-range Nirbhay subsonic cruise missile early next week, the last for the solid rocket booster missile before its formal induction into the army and navy, people familiar with it said. with the development to the Hindustan Times. It would be the 10th missile test launch by India’s leading defense research organization in the past 35 days.
DRDO’s effort to accelerate the development of strategic nuclear and conventional missiles ‘Made in India’ (it has fired a missile every four days for nearly a month) comes in the context of China’s refusal to step back from the Line Real Control.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army first clashed with Indian soldiers on the north shore of Ladakh’s Pangong Tso Lake on May 5 this year, setting up a clash that quickly spread to four locations in eastern Ladakh.
The clash turned into a bloody clash in June that killed soldiers on both sides. It was the first time the two countries had lost soldiers on this border in four decades. Just under two months later, they also shot up when Indian soldiers occupied the heights on the north shore of the picturesque saltwater lake that stretches over 700 square kilometers.
India’s race to test missiles
- Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle September 7
- ABHYAS-High Speed Expendable Air Target September 22
- Laser Guided Anti-tank Guided Missile September 22
- Night test of the strategic missile Prithvi II September 23
- BrahMos supersonic cruise missile September 30
- Laser Guided Anti-Tank Guided Missile October 1
- Shaurya supersonic strategic missile October 3
- Supersonic missile-assisted torpedo launch October 5
- Anti-radiation missile Oct 9
The two countries have held numerous rounds of negotiations at the diplomatic, military and ministerial level; another round is scheduled for Monday. But China has been reluctant to return to the positions it held before escalating tensions.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has pointed to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s aggression on the border with India as an example of the “bad behavior” of the Chinese Communist Party. The United States estimates that China has mobilized about 60,000 troops deep in Ladakh.
The DRDO was quietly told to accelerate its missile program in the early part of the confrontation because the Indian government had doubts about China’s commitment to peace on the border, said a missile expert associated with the projects.
The Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV) was the first to be fired on September 7. Over the next four weeks, the DRDO has tested the extended-range version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that can blow up targets 400 km away, the nuclear-capable Shaurya supersonic missiles that can travel at double or triple the speed. . Sound; and the supersonic missile-assisted launch of the torpedo targeting the submarines, in addition to the test firing of the laser-guided anti-tank guided missile only 10 days apart.
In between, the DRDO also conducted a nighttime test of the Prithvi-II nuclear-capable ballistic missile, the surface-to-ground missile capable of striking targets at a range of 300 km. It is India’s first indigenous surface-to-surface strategic missile.
Accelerated development and testing have made it possible to deploy the terrain-hugging subsonic Nirbhay missile along the Ladakh border in limited numbers.
“The Shaurya missile would be next,” an official said of the new-age weapon that can carry a nuclear warhead that weighs around 200 kg and flies at 2.4 km per second. The government has authorized his incorporation into the army. The Indian Strategic Forces Command will decide the locations of their deployment under the direction of the National Security Council.
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