India successfully flight-tests RudraM-II air-to-surface missile

NEW DELHI: In another milestone in advanced missile technology, Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have conducted the successful flight-tests of RudraM-II air-to-surface missile from an airborne platform from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, the defence ministry said on Tuesday. The missiles after release were guided to a predefined target with pin-point accuracy. All the test objectives were fully met as confirmed by the flight data captured by various range instruments deployed by ITR, Chandipur, the ministry’s statement said. “The tests were conducted under extreme release conditions with critical trajectory establishing the capability of all subsystems,” it further said. Defence minister Rajnath Singh has lauded the effort of DRDO, IAF, other agencies linked to the indigenous missile programme and the industry for the successful flight-tests. He said the tests have demonstrated the growing maturity of indigenous defence technologies, contributing significantly to Aatmanirbharta in advanced weapon systems. As per reports, the indigenous air-to-surface missile RudraM-II can reach a peak speed of Mach 5.5, is capable of striking targets at a distance of approximately 300 km and can carry a warhead weighing up to 200 kg. It can be deployed from aircraft like Sukhois flying at altitudes ranging from 3 to 15 km. The new missile will act as a key force multiplier and intend to eventually replace the older Russian-origin Kh-31 anti-radiation missiles currently in service. RudraM-II uses a hybrid navigation system combining an inertial navigation system, GPS and a sophisticated passive homing head that detects radio frequency emissions across a wide frequency band. RudraM-II has been indigenously developed by Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad, as the nodal DRDO laboratory in collaboration with other sister labs such as Defence Research and Development Laboratory, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Armament Research & Development Establishment & ITR. Along with the Development cum Production Partners (DcPPs), agencies like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness, Missile System Quality Assurance Agency and many other industries have contributed significantly towards achieving this goal.