India Successfully Completes Multiple Flight Trials of Indigenous Short-Range Air Defence Missile

New Delhi : India’s Ministry of Defence has announced the successful flight trials of a very short-range air defence missile system, marking another milestone in the country’s indigenous weapons development. The ministry said that three consecutive flight tests of the Very Short-Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) were carried out on Friday from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha, with all missions achieving their objectives. 

According to the defence statement, the trials were conducted to revalidate the missile system’s performance in countering fast-moving aerial threats across different speeds, altitudes and ranges. In all three flight exercises, the VSHORADS missiles successfully intercepted and destroyed high-speed targets designed to simulate hostile aircraft, demonstrating the system’s precision and reliability in a variety of engagement scenarios. 

Developed indigenously by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in collaboration with other laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian industry partners, the VSHORADS is a man-portable air defence weapon intended to protect ground forces from low-altitude aerial threats. The recent trials were conducted in the system’s final deployment configuration, with field operators handling target acquisition and missile firing to closely reflect real operational conditions.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO scientists, the armed forces and industry partners on the successful tests, noting that the system could soon be introduced into service with the Indian armed forces. He said that data collected from telemetry, electro-optical tracking and radar systems confirmed VSHORADS’ effectiveness against a broad range of aerial threats. 

The achievement underscores India’s ongoing efforts to boost its indigenous defence capabilities, particularly in developing systems that can defend against drones, helicopters and other low-flying targets as threats evolve. 

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