The Indian Navy on Wednesday successfully carried out the maiden test firing of the first indigenously developed naval anti-ship missile from a Seaking helicopter, officials said.
The test was conducted at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Odisha's Balasore.
"This firing is a significant step towards achieving self-reliance in niche missile technology and reaffirms the Indian Navy's commitment to indigenisation," said a senior Navy official.
The Indian Navy carried out the test in association with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
On Twitter, the Indian Navy released a brief video of the Seaking 42B helicopter firing the missile.
The test-firing of the new missile came over a month after an anti-ship version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired jointly by the Indian Navy and the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
The existence of the Naval Anti-Ship Missile NASM SR was revealed in 2018 in the Lok Sabha. Raksha Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman named this in the list of DRDO developments and those at other Indian institutions over the past three years (January 2016-December 2018).
Initial details were unveiled at the DefExpo 2020. This project is possibly being developed for a number of platforms, having different ranges. ‘SR’, or Short Range, means that development of other longer range versions is expected as well.
According to DRDO, the NASM-SR will be a 380 kg projectile with a maximum range of 55 km and used initially with Indian Navy Sea King helicopters, replacing the earlier Sea Eagle missiles. As the Sea King itself is approaching the end of its service life, it may be expected that the new indigenous missile will be in service with future helicopters of the Navy.
The Indian Navy is currently procuring MH-60R helicopters for multi-role purposes and these will be equipped with Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile. Further, for the Indian Navy’s IMRH acquisition, MBDA pitched its Sea Venom which has a range of 25 km and also the Marte ER which can reach more than 100 km.
The NASM SR could certainly be considered for these potent platforms. The long range version of the NASM may have a range excess of 150 km, enabling engagement of hostile targets from stand-off distances. At the DRDO exhibit at Aero India 2019 were several posters of a one-tonne class medium range air launched cruise missile, though little was revealed about this unnamed stealth missile.
The Indian Navy has been steadily enhancing its overall combat capability to effectively protect India's maritime security interests, particularly in the Indian Ocean region.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday launched two frontline warships of the Indian Navy.
The ships -- INS Surat and INS Udaygiri -- were launched at the Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.
INS Surat is the fourth guided-missile destroyer of the P15B class, while INS Udaygiri is the second stealth frigate of the P17A class.
(with inputs from PTI)
