India successfully test-fires missile interceptor

India Friday successfully tested a ballistic missile interceptor from a defence base in Odisha as part of its efforts to create a shield against incoming enemy missiles, a senior defence official said.

The indigenous Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile was fired from Wheeler Island off the coast near Dhamra in Bhadrak district, about 170 km from here.

It successfully destroyed an incoming ballistic missile — a modified variant of the Prithvi fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district, about 70 km from Wheeler Island.

“The interceptor directly hit the target and destroyed it,” S.P. Dash, director of the test range, told IANS. The interceptor was fired a few minutes after the target missile was fired. The target was destroyed at an altitude of 15 km.

The master mission control centre located more than 1,000 km away at Hyderabad, received the target data in real time from multiple weapon systems radars, an official statement said.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation mission control centre is one of the most advanced, automated net-centric command and control systems in the world, it said.

The complete engagement sequence from target detection to destruction was controlled by the control centre in a net-centric mode, it said.