India tests short-range naval anti-ship missile in first-ever salvo launch

India on Wednesday successfully carried out the maiden salvo launch of the Naval Anti-ship Missile-Short Range (NASM-SR), in a move aimed at strengthening the country’s maritime strike capabilities.

The successful trial was conducted jointly by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy from the Navy’s helicopter platform off the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Odisha.

According to the defence ministry, two missiles were launched in quick succession from the same helicopter during the trial.

“During the trial, two missiles were launched in quick succession from the same helicopter, making it the first salvo launch of an advanced air-launched anti-ship missile system,” the ministry said.

The ministry said all test objectives were successfully achieved based on data collected through radar, telemetry and electro-optical systems deployed by the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur.

“Along with proving the salvo launch capability, the missiles demonstrated the waterline hit capability. The test launches were witnessed by senior scientists from DRDO, users’ representatives from the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force and Development-cum-Production Partners (DcPP),” the ministry said.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO, the Indian Navy, the Indian Air Force and industry partners involved in the project for the successful missile trial.

The defence ministry said the NASM-SR missile uses a solid propulsion booster and a long-burn sustainer.

It added that several critical subsystems, including the seeker, integrated avionics module, advanced navigation and guidance systems using a fibre-optic gyroscope-based inertial navigation system, and the guidance algorithm, were developed indigenously by DRDO laboratories and Indian industry partners.

The missile system was developed by Hyderabad-based Research Centre Imarat in collaboration with several other DRDO laboratories.