On 12th October, 2020, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) launched the Nirbhay Cruise Missile from Odisha’s test facility, the mission was aborted due to technical snag.
i.Nirbhay is India’s first indigenously developed Cruise Missile and has been developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL).
ii.It was the trial of the Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM).
iii.The subsonic missile can fly at a speed of 0.7 Mach, and has a range of 800 to 1, 000 Kms.
iv.The two-stage Missile has a length of Six Meters, diameter of 0.52 Metres, Wing Span 2.7 Meters and a weight of about 1.5 tonne.
v.It is powered by a solid rocket booster in the first stage & Turbofan, Turbojet in the second stage.
vi.The two-stage missile uses Solid Fuel for the First Stage and Liquid Fuel for the Second Stage.
Indigenous Components:
i.Nirbhay Missile used Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) developed Short Turbo Fan Engine (STFE) called Manik and an upgraded Radio Frequency (RF) seeker from Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad.
ii.The GTRE Developed STFE is a major step in achieving self-sufficiency in Cruise Missile Technology.
Recent Related News:
i.On September 22, 2020 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted the flight test of ABHYAS – High Speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from the Interim Test Range, Balasore, Odisha.
About DRDO:
Chairman– Dr G. Satheesh Reddy
Headquarters– New Delhi
