India Successfully Test-Fires SANT Missile

New Delhi: India on Monday test-fired the Stand-off Anti-tank (SANT) missile off the coast of Odisha. The test was successful.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation is developing the missile for the Indian Air Force and it will have both Lock-on After Launch and Lock-on Before Launch capabilities, sources said.

The test came a day after a successful test of the naval version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was conducted. The missile was test-fired from an indigenously-developed stealth destroyer, INS Chennai of the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea on Sunday.

The missile hit the target with pin-point accuracy and also performed “extremely complex” manoeuvres before taking out the target, officials were reported as saying.

“BrahMos as ‘prime strike weapon’ will ensure the warship’s invincibility by engaging naval surface targets at long ranges, thus making the destroyer another lethal platform of Indian Navy,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The missile has been developed by BrahMos Aerospace, which is a joint venture between India and Russia. The JV has developed / is developing the supersonic cruise missile which can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or from land platforms.

In the last few weeks, India has test-fired several missiles, including a new version of the surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos and anti-radiation missile Rudram-1. Laser-guided anti-tank guided missile and nuclear-capable hypersonic missile ‘Shaurya’ were also test-fired.

All these tests have been conducted at a time when India has been involved in a bitter border dispute with China in eastern Ladakh.

Source: ToI