The Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Indian Navy have successfully conducted the maiden salvo launch of the Naval Anti-ship Missile-Short Range from a naval helicopter platform off the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Odisha, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Wednesday (29 April).
During the trial, two missiles were launched in quick succession from the same helicopter, making it the first salvo launch of an advanced air-launched anti-ship missile system.
All test objectives were fully met as per data captured using various range tracking instruments like radar, electro-optical system and telemetry deployed by the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.
Along with proving the salvo launch capability, the missiles demonstrated waterline hit capability, which is particularly significant in maritime warfare as it increases damage to targeted vessels.
The NASM-SR has been developed by Hyderabad-based Research Centre Imarat in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories including Defence Research and Development Laboratory, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory and Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory.
The missile uses a solid propulsion booster and long-burn sustainer, with all critical subsystems including the seeker, integrated avionics module and fibre-optic gyroscope-based inertial navigation system developed indigenously.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented DRDO, the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and industry partners for the successful maiden salvo launch.
The development of this missile will further enhance the capabilities of the armed forces to a great extent, he said.
The test launches were witnessed by senior scientists from DRDO, representatives from the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, and Development-cum-Production Partners.
The NASM-SR is India's first indigenously developed air-launched anti-ship cruise missile, designed to replace legacy systems such as the Sea Eagle missile.
With an operational range of approximately 55 kilometres and subsonic speeds of about Mach 0.8, the missile follows a sea-skimming flight profile to evade radar detection.
The successful salvo test concludes the primary developmental phase of the NASM-SR programme, with Bharat Dynamics Limited identified as the production partner ahead of induction into operational service.
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