Source : Hindustan Times
India on Tuesday successfully test fired a new version of a medium-range ballistic missile, PTI quoted the Ministry of Defence as saying.
According to the ministry, the user launch proved the operational capability of the missile with new technologies. The test firing was conducted under the aegis of the strategic forces command.
“A successful launch of the new variant of a medium-range ballistic missile was carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command on April 23,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The user launch has proven the operational capability of the Command and validated new technologies,” the ministry statement added. As per the report, the missile is not from the ‘Agni’ family of weapons systems.
In another development, India on Tuesday delivered the fourth ‘battery’ of land version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines amidst growing tensions due to Chinese assertions in the South China Sea. The fourth consignment on board C-17 Globemaster of the Indian Air Force landed in Manila this afternoon, HT has learnt.
As per the report, each battery has four launchers with three 290 km range missiles with each launcher on a mobile platform for survivability of the conventional deterrent.
Due to the supersonic speed of the weapon, the BrahMos missile is very difficult to intercept by land or ship-based Ballistic Missile Defence (BMDs) systems.
The deal has ensured that India’s defence exports have already touched ₹21083 crores in 2023-2024 with a massive 32.5 per cent year-on-year growth as compared to the past fiscal.
According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), India was the fourth largest military spender across the globe last year with an expenditure of $83.6 billion after the United States, China and Russia. New Delhi’s spending was 4.2% higher than that in the previous year, the report added.
