In a major boost to India's defence capabilities, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully completed the final development trials of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM)-V3 in both air-to-ground and air-to-air modes.
The trials were conducted at a DRDO test range near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh using an integrated ground control system (GCS) to command and control the ULPGM weapon system, the defence ministry said in a release.
The GCS features state-of-the-art technologies to automate readiness and launch operations.
"The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully completed the final deliverable configuration development trials of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM)-V3 in air-to-ground and air-to-air modes," the ministry said.
The DRDO partnered with two production agencies—Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad and Adani Defence Systems & Technologies Limited, Hyderabad—for the development and production of the missiles.
The system has been integrated with UAVs developed by Newspace Research and Technologies, Bengaluru, for current trials.
The trials confirmed a fully mature domestic supply chain, equipped for immediate serial mass production, the ministry said.
The ULPGM-V3 has been developed by Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad, as the nodal lab, in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories, including Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad; Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh; and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune, it said.
The missile has been produced entirely through the Indian defence ecosystem involving a large number of MSMEs and other industries.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO, PSUs, defence-cum-production partners and industry stakeholders for the successful development trials of the ULPGM-V3 in air-to-ground mode for anti-tank role and air-to-air mode for drone, helicopter and other airborne targets.
He termed it a strategic milestone achieved towards 'aatmanirbharta' in defence.
