Three flight-trials of the VSHORADS (Very Short-Range Air Defence System) were conducted from Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha, on Thursday.
The VSHORADS is a man-portable air defence system designed and developed indigenously by Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in collaboration with other DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organisation) laboratories and Indian industry partners. The missile system has the capability to meet the needs of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force.
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The trials were carried out to "revalidate" the capability of the missile system in neutralising high-speed threats flying at varying speeds, ranges, and altitudes.
"During all the flight-tests, the missiles intercepted and destroyed the high-speed aerial targets mimicking enemy aircraft in various threat scenarios, meeting all extreme engagement points," the defence ministry stated in a release.
The ministry said the tests were carried out in the final deployment configuration, where target acquisition and missile firing were conducted by field operators.
Flight data collected by multiple range instruments, including Telemetry, the Electro-Optical Tracking System, and Radars deployed at ITR, Chandipur, confirmed the effectiveness of VSHORADS against a broad spectrum of aerial threats.
The user validation flight trials were conducted in the presence of representatives from the Joint Forces, along with senior officials from DRDO and its development-cum-production partners.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated the DRDO, the Armed Forces, and the industry for the successful flight-tests of the system, saying the three consecutive flight-trials of VSHORADS are a great success and the system can soon be inducted into the armed forces.
