India successfully conducted cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’

India successfully conducted a flight test of its state-of-the-art sleek cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’, which  is capable of carrying warheads of up to 300 kg. and is nuclear capable.

The indigenously designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile was launched from 

a test range at Chandipur along the Odisha coast.  Defence Research and Development Organisation 

(DRDO) sources told PTI that the missile was launched from a specially designed launcher from the 

launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha’s Balasore. 

This was the fifth experimental test of the homegrown missile system. 

This is a big feat for India because out of the four earlier trials ever since its debut launch in 2013, only one was successful.

‘Nirbhay’, a two-stage missile, is 6-metre long, 0.52 metre wide and with a wingspan of 2.7 metre. 

It can carry the designated warhead at a speed of 0.6 -0.7 Mach. Its launch weight is about 1500 kg.

With an operational range of 1,000 km, the missile is fueled by a solid rocket motor booster developed by the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL). The missile is guided by a highly-advanced inertial navigation system which is also indigenously designed and developed by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI)

What happened during earlier test flights?

The maiden test flight of ‘Nirbhay’ held on March 12, 2013 had to be terminated midway for safety reasons due to malfunction of a component. However, the second launch on October 17, 2014 was successful, he said. 

In the next trial conducted on October 16, 2015, the missile deviated from its path after covering 128 km. 

The last test flight held on December 21, 2016 had to be aborted after 700 seconds of its test flight as it deviated from its designated path. 

All these trials were conducted from the same base at Chandipur ITR.