Today at 6.45am, the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully completed the final test of the Nag anti-tank missile using an active warhead on a failed tank at Pokhran army firing ranges. The shoulder-launched four-kilometer-range infrared imaging seeker missile will now be listed in the Indian Army.
The Nag test comes after the DRDO tested that the helicopter launched the Stand-off Anti-Tank Missile (SANT) with more than 10 km of Balasore’s test range in Odisha on October 19. Although the missile will eventually be integrated with attack helicopters in the future, the test was carried out from the ground and was successful.
According to senior government officials, the Nag anti-tank missile is now ready for induction, having successfully completed the 10-user test with finding the weapon and then hitting the target.
The DRDO is on a wave of missile tests since last month with a single missile, subsonic cruisers of 1000 km range Nirbhay, developing an issue in a test earlier this month. The missile is now expected to be tested fired in the coming months, as the missile team has identified and rectified the technical problem in the propellant.
The final test of the Nag anti-tank missile means that the Indian military will no longer have to import this weapon from either Israel or the United States for the four kilometer range. Due to the unavailability of a credible anti-tank weapon, India had to purchase around 200 pieces of Spike anti-tank missiles from Israel as emergency purchases after the People’s Liberation Army aggression in Ladakh. The Spike missiles were acquired after the Galwan outbreak on June 15, after which both India and China have deployed troops along the 1,597 km of the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in Ladakh.
The need for an anti-tank missile was painfully felt after the PLA amassed artillery, rockets, and tanks in occupied Aksai Chin to deter India.
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