DRDO & Indian Navy Conduct Successful Trial of BMD Interceptor from Naval Platform

Source: The post is based on the article “DRDO & Indian Navy Conduct Successful Trial of BMD Interceptor from Naval Platform” published in PIB on 23rd April 2023

What is the News?

DRDO and Indian Navy successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of a sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of Odisha.

What is the purpose of this trial?

The purpose of the trial was to engage and neutralize a hostile ballistic missile threat thereby elevating India into the elite club of Nations having Naval Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capability.

Prior to this, DRDO has successfully demonstrated land-based BMD system with the capability to neutralize ballistic missile threats, emerging from adversaries.

What is the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence(BMD) Program?

The Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Program is an initiative to develop and deploy a multi-layered ballistic missile defence system to protect India from ballistic missile attacks.

India launched the BMD program after the Kargil war in 1999 to counter the enemy nation’s widening spectrum of ballistic missiles that usually delivered both conventional and nuclear warheads.

India’s BMD is two-tiered:

The first layer is the Prithvi Air Defence which can intercept and destroy missiles at exo-atmospheric altitudes of 50–180 kilometers. Pradyumna Ballistic Missile Interceptor is going to replace the Prithvi air defense.

– Note: Exo-atmospheric missiles are capable of completing missions in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

The second layer is the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile for lower altitude interception, which is designed to knock down hostile missiles in the endo-atmosphere at altitudes of 15-40 kilometres. Akash Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM) is part of AAD.

– Note: The endo-atmospheric missiles are the ones that operate within the earth’s atmosphere that covers an altitude below 100 KM.