New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The Advanced Agni missile with Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) system, capable of hitting different targets spread over a large area, was successfully flight-tested over the Indian Ocean Region, a DRDO official said on Saturday.​

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Indian Army, and industry on the successful flight test conducted on Friday.​

“This will add an incredible capability to the country’s defence preparedness against the growing threat perceptions,” he said.​

The successful flight trial of the Advanced Agni missile with MIRV was conducted from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha, said an official statement.​

The missile was flight-tested with multiple payloads, targeting different targets spatially distributed across the Indian Ocean Region, it said.​

Telemetry and tracking were carried out by multiple ground- and ship-based stations. These systems tracked the entire missile trajectory from lift-off to the impact of all payloads. Flight data confirmed that all mission objectives were met during the trial, the statement said.​

“With this successful trial, India once again demonstrated the capability to target multiple strategic targets using a single missile system. This missile is developed by DRDO laboratories with the support of industries across the country,” it said.​

The trial was witnessed by senior scientists of the DRDO and Indian Army personnel.​

On Thursday, the DRDO and the Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully conducted the maiden flight-trial of Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation (TARA) weapon off the coast of Odisha, said a statement.​

TARA, the modular range-extension kit, is India’s first indigenous glide weapon system that converts unguided warheads into precision-guided weapons.​

TARA has been designed and developed by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, along with other DRDO laboratories, to enhance the accuracy of a low-cost weapon for neutralising ground-based targets.​

It is the first glide weapon to utilise state-of-the-art low-cost systems. The development of the kit has been undertaken with Development cum Production Partners (DcPP) and other Indian industries, which have already commenced production, said the statement.​

–IANS

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