Bhubaneswar: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted the maiden flight-test of Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LRLACM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha’s Balasore district on Tuesday.
During the flight-test of the missile from a mobile articulated launcher, all sub-systems performed as per expectation and met the primary mission objectives. The missile performance was monitored by several range sensors like Radar, Electro Optical Tracking System and telemetry deployed by ITR at different locations to ensure complete coverage of the flight path, a release of Ministry of Defence stated.
The missile followed the desired path using way point navigation and demonstrated its capability to perform various manoeuvres while flying at various altitudes and speeds. The missile is also equipped with advanced avionics and software to ensure better and reliable performance.
LRLACM has been developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bengaluru along with contribution from other DRDO laboratories and Indian industries. Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad and Bharat Electronics Limited, Bengaluru are the two Development-Cum-Production-Partners for LRLACM and they are engaged in the missile development and integration. The test was witnessed by senior scientists from various DRDO laboratories along with the representatives from the three Services, the users of the system.
LRLACM is a Defence Acquisition Council-approved, Acceptance of Necessity-sanctioned, Mission Mode Project. It is configured to launch from ground using mobile articulated launcher and also from frontline ships using universal vertical launch module system.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented DRDO, Armed Forces and the industry on the successful Maiden Flight Test. It paved the way for future indigenous cruise missile development programmes, he said.
Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat congratulated the entire team of DRDO on the successful maiden launch of LRLACM.