Flight test of HeliNa missile successful

BHUBANESWAR: India, on Friday, successfully flight tested a modified anti-tank guided missile HeliNa from a defence facility off Odisha coast paving the way for its actual launch from helicopter. Defence sources said the indigenously developed HeliNa was fired by the missile handling unit of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from a ground launcher at the Launching Complex-III of Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 12.55 pm.

The HeliNa (Helicopter launched Nag) has been designed and developed to be fired from chopper. Some structural changes have been made to the system to enhance stability.A defence official said the missile test fired from a ground-based launcher as a mandatory requirement with respect to safety. “There has been internal modifications in design and structure of the missile system. The test proved that the system has become more stable. It would be tested from helicopter after one more trial from ground on Saturday,” he said.

HeliNa is an air-to-land version of Nag missile, which is one of the five missile systems developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).Earlier, several trials of the third generation ‘fire and forget’ missile was conducted from both the ITR and Pokhran firing range. But, the modified version having close to zero error probability was test fired for the first time.

“The missile was fired for a range of 7 km. It tracked the target all through its course and hit with precision. Data collected during the test are being analysed. We are satisfied with the preliminary test results,” the official added.

Once inducted in the Armed forces, HeliNa missile will be integrated with the weaponised version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, HAL built combat helicopter Rudra and Light Combat Helicopter (LCH).The missile can be launched from twin-tube stub wing-mounted launchers on board the armed light combat helicopters and advanced light helicopters. While Nag missile has a maximum range of 4 km, the HeliNa has an extended strike range of about 8 km. Guided by imaging infrared seeker, the missile operates on lock-on-after launch mode which help extend its strike range.

SFDR propulsion-based missile test fired
Bhubaneswar: The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted second test of indigenously developed ‘Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR)’ propulsion-based missile system from the ITR on Friday. The missile was fired from a static launcher meeting all mission objectives. It flew along the intended trajectory at a speed of Mach 3 (thrice the speed of sound) and performed perfectly, validating the new indigenous technology. Defence sources said the missile was guided to high altitude to simulate aircraft release conditions and subsequently nozzle-less-booster was ignited. SFDR-based missile accelerated to achieve ramjet Mach number successfully.

A defence official said the success of SFDR propulsion technology is a significant milestone and will pave the way for development of long range air-to-air missiles in the country. “Ground booster, separation of ground booster and nozzle-less-booster performance were found satisfactory. The trajectory was tracked by telemetry and radar stations till touchdown. All the mission objectives have been met,” he added.Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman congratulated DRDO and associated team members for the stupendous mission.