The Indian Air Force (IAF) has successfully conducted the trials for the all weather Astra missile which is developed indigenously in Odisha over the Bay of Bengal, coast of Chandipur.
The missile was tested for seven times out of which two of the trails were done against Pilotless Target Aircrafts (PTA). Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft was used to fire the missile which fired it successfully. After these trials, it is expected that this newly developed missile will soon be available for induction into IAF.
Specifications of Astra:
Talking about features of Astra BVRAAM is an air-to-air missile developed indigenously by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). With having a length of 3.8 metres and weight of 154kg, Astra is one of the smallest missile developed by DRDO. The missile is capable of carrying a payload of 15kg conventional explosives.
Astra missile can be launched from different aaltitudes. It can hit the targets at varying range and and altitudes at both short-range targets (up to 20 km) in tail-chase mode and long-range targets (up to 80 km) in head-on mode. It is radar homing supersonic missile having maximum speed of Mach 4 (four times speed of sound).
