“The micro-light aircraft fitted with an advanced remote controlled engine was test flown at about 12.50 pm from the launching complex-II. It was successful as we tested several developments made in the digital version of the unmanned aircraft,” said a defence official.
This time the aircraft flew over 30 minutes during which all the parameters were tested, he said, adding that another round of trial will be carried out in a day or two. Earlier both the sea and land recovery versions of the PTA have been test flown successfully.
The PTA, a sub-sonic and re-usable aerial target system, is remote controlled from the ground and designed to impart training to both air-borne and air-defence pilots.
Apart from this, a series of nuclear- capable missiles will be test-fired this month. While preparation for the tests is in full swing, hundreds of DRDO scientists are camping at two test facilities of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the Orissa coast.
The missiles which will be put under trial include land version of K-15 missile dubbed as ‘Shaurya’, surface-to-surface Prithvi-II and Agni-II.
While Shaurya has been slated for tests any time between September 17 and 18, Prithvi-II may be tested from September 22 to 24 followed by Agni-II on September 30.
The DRDO scientists are working overtime to ensure successful trials of the Shaurya and 2000-km range Agni-II this time. While Agni-II had developed technical snags during its previous test
leading to the postponement, ‘Shaurya’ is being tested for the second time.
Sources at the ITR said the 600-km range ‘Shaurya’ missile will be test-fired from an underground silo with a depth of nearly 30 feet at the Chandipur test facilities. The missile that was first tested in November 2008 is the land variant of sub-marine based ballistic missile (SLBM) K-15.
A user trial of the Agni-II missile to be conducted by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of Indian Army on August 29 was aborted at the last minute as the missile developed technical glitches and ignition problem.
The SFC will also carry the user trial of indigenously developed Prithvi-II to gauge the effectiveness and performance of the weapon during a real time situation. While Agni-II missile will be test-fired from the Wheeler Island-based launching complex (LC)-IV, ‘Shaurya’ and ‘Prithvi-II’ were launched from the Chandipur-based LC-III.
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