India to carry out trials of indigenous short-range air defence missiles

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will carry out trials of the indigenous Very Short Range Air Defence Systems (VSHORADS) soon, senior defence officials said.

Trials of the missile, which can hit aerial targets at very short ranges, are going to be carried out in high altitude areas such as Ladakh or Sikkim very soon, the officials told India Today TV.

The tripod fired air defence system is being developed as part of an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured system, they said.

In February, the DRDO successfully conducted two flight tests of the VSHORADS missile from the Integrated Test Range off Odisha's Chandipur.

These tests were carried out against high speed unmanned aerial targets under different interception scenarios. During all the test flights, the targets were intercepted and destroyed by the missiles.

The VSHORADS is propelled by a dual thrust solid motor and will be used for neutralising low altitude aerial threats at short ranges.

The VSHORADS is a Man Portable Air Defence System, developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories and other industry partners, the defence ministry said in a statement.

"VSHORADS missile incorporates many novel technologies including miniaturised Reaction Control System (RCS) and integrated avionics which have been successfully proven during the tests," it said.