India is gearing up to test its first long-range cruise missile Nirbhay (the fearless), which can carry nuclear warheads and has a strike range of over 1,000 km, within a month or so. A stealth missile long in the making, Nirbhay is meant to fulfill the armed forces’ demand for a nuclear-tipped land-attack cruise missile (LACMs) tha can be fired from land, air and sea.
Flaunted as India’s answer to the US’s Tomahawk missiles as well as a counter to Pakistan’s Babur LACM, Nirbhay was experimentally fired for the first time in March last year. But the test went awry.
“We had to abort the flight after a snag in one of the components made the missile deviate from its flight trajectory. The problem has now been resolved. The maiden test-firing did prove most of the required critical technologies,” said a DRDO scientist.
“Preparations for the fresh test (from the Chandipur launch complex off the Odisha coast) are more or less complete. Depending on the slot available, we will test Nirbhay around early-June,’’ he added.
India already has the 290-km supersonic BrahMos cruise missile as well as the Agni series of nuclear-capable missiles with strike ranges varying from 700 km to over 5,000 km.
Being a cruise missile, Nirbhay has been designed to fly at low altitudes, virtually hugging the terrain, to evade enemy radars and missile defence systems. The sub-sonic missile, which flies at a speed of 0.6-0.7 Mach, is said to be highly manoeuverable.
Flaunted as India’s answer to the US’s Tomahawk missiles as well as a counter to Pakistan’s Babur LACM, Nirbhay was experimentally fired for the first time in March last year. But the test went awry.
“We had to abort the flight after a snag in one of the components made the missile deviate from its flight trajectory. The problem has now been resolved. The maiden test-firing did prove most of the required critical technologies,” said a DRDO scientist.
“Preparations for the fresh test (from the Chandipur launch complex off the Odisha coast) are more or less complete. Depending on the slot available, we will test Nirbhay around early-June,’’ he added.
India already has the 290-km supersonic BrahMos cruise missile as well as the Agni series of nuclear-capable missiles with strike ranges varying from 700 km to over 5,000 km.
Being a cruise missile, Nirbhay has been designed to fly at low altitudes, virtually hugging the terrain, to evade enemy radars and missile defence systems. The sub-sonic missile, which flies at a speed of 0.6-0.7 Mach, is said to be highly manoeuverable.
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