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India on Friday test-fired a cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons from the town of Balasore in the southern state of Orissa, Indian daily the Times of India reported.
The missile, named Nirbhay, can reach a target over 700 kilometers away. According to the Times of India, the test-fire on Friday was the second developmental trial of the cruise missile; the first test was performed on March 12th last year at Balasore, but “the flight had to be terminated mid-way, as deviations were observed from its intended course”, the daily quoted an Indian official saying.
“The missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher positioned at launch pad 3 of the Integrated Test Range at about 10.03 hours. Flight details will be available after data retrieved from radars and telemetry points, monitoring the trajectories, are analyzed”, an Indian official said after Friday’s test.
According to the daily, the official also said that nirbhay has decent loitering capability, a high degree of accuracy, effective stealth features and effective guidance and control.
The missile is being developed in-house by Indian government agency Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The test comes as Pakistan and India engaged in skirmishes across the working international border between the two, known as the Line of Control (LoC).
India also has the 290-kilometer range supersonic “BrahMos” cruise missile in its arsenal; BrahMos was jointly developed by Russia and India.
