DRDO conducts successful flight test of Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket
New Delhi, July 8
Defence Research and Development Organisation on Wednesday conducted a successful flight-test of Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur. The rocket was tested for a user-defined minimum range of 60 kms.
According to the Ministry of Defence, demonstrating all in-flight manoeuvres as planned, the LRGR impacted on the target with textbook precision exactly following the predicted trajectory. All the deployed range instruments tracked the flight throughout its trajectory.
The Pinaka LRGR rocket is designed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment in association with the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, with support from Defence Research and Development Laboratory and the Research Centre Imarat.
The flight trial was coordinated by ITR and the Proof & Experimental Establishment. The rocket was launched from the in-service Pinaka launcher, demonstrating its versatility and providing launch capability of Pinaka variants of different ranges from the same launcher.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO, the Indian Army and the industry on the successful flight test.
He described it as a major milestone in indigenous design and development capability for long-range guided rockets.
Defence Secretary and Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh closely monitored the trials and complimented all the teams associated with the successful test.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Excellent news! But I hope we also focus on increasing our production capacity. 60 km range is good for tactical use, but we need longer range systems to match Chinese artillery. Still, great step forward in indigenization.
Finally some good news in defence! The Pinaka system is a force multiplier for our army. What I appreciate most is that this is completely indigenous - from design to production. This is the kind of Atmanirbhar Bharat we need. Well done DRDO! 👏
Pratham, we need to see how this translates into battlefield capability. 60 km range is good but our adversaries have systems reaching 100+ km. The guided aspect is excellent for precision strikes, but I hope DRDO is already working on longer range variants. Incremental progress is good, but we need leapfrog capabilities.
"Textbook precision" - just the words we want to hear! 👏 This will give our troops a significant edge in any conflict scenario. The fact that it works with existing Pinaka launchers means we can upgrade without replacing entire systems. Smart thinking by DRDO.
Great news from DRDO! But I wonder about the cost per unit. Guided rockets tend to be expensive. For sustained barrages, we might still need unguided variants. Balance between precision and volume of fire is key. Nevertheless, this is a crucial capability addition.
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