India adds more muscle to its armed forces, successfully test fires advanced version of Pinaka rocket

In a major boost for the armed forces, India on Wednesday successfully test fired the extended range of Pinaka rocket from Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur off the coast of Odisha. It successfully achieved a range beyond 45 km.

A total of six rockets were launched in quick succession that hit the target and the tests met complete mission objectives. The development of Enhanced Pinaka system was taken up to achieve longer range performance compared to an earlier design with a reduced length.

The enhanced version of the Pinaka rocket would replace the existing Pinaka Mk-I rockets which are currently under production. The rocket has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and was flight tested on November 4. 

The design and development have been carried out by Pune based DRDO laboratories, namely Armament Research and Development Establishment, ARDE and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, HEMRL.

Rockets tested have been manufactured by M/s Economic Explosives Limited, Nagpur, to whom the technology has been transferred. All the flight articles were tracked by Range instruments such as telemetry, radar and Electro-Optical Tracking Systems which confirmed the flight performance.

On October 19, India had successfully testfired the Stand-off Anti-tank (SANT) Missile off the coast of Odisha. Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Air Force, the SANT missile will have both Lock-on After Launch and Lock-on Before Launch capability, sources said.

India test fired SANT missile just a day after a successful test of the naval version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. The BrahMos missile was test-fired on Sunday from an indigenously-developed Indian Navy's stealth destroyer INS Chennai. BrahMos as ‘prime strike weapon’ will ensure the invincibility of INS Chennai by engaging naval surface targets at long ranges, said DRDO. It added that the successful test-firing of BrahMos will make INS Chennai another lethal platform of Indian Navy.

Notably, BrahMos has been jointly designed, developed and produced by India and Russia.