BALASORE: The DRDO created history by successfully test firing the indigenously built supersonic Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile in a war-like situation, for the first time, from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast on Friday.A scientist involved in the mission told ‘The Express’ that no prior information was given to the AAD system about the launch timing of the target missile, a Prithvi variant, which was a practice during earlier trials.“During developmental trials the AAD system is well informed about the ‘launch timing’ of the target missile. After it is fired, the radars track the missile and guidance system gives the interceptor launcher required command to fire the missile. But this time there was no internal communication from the target missile,” he said.Even the scientists associated with the AAD project were unaware of the launch timing. The interceptor was put on take off mode and all the tracking systems worked perfectly soon after the target was launched. Radars at various locations tracked the incoming ballistic missile while guidance computers continuously computed its trajectory and launched the interceptor. Then started the work of onboard radio frequency seeker, which identified the target missile and guided the interceptor missile close to it. It was destroyed at an altitude of 15 km. “The enemies will not intimate us the attack timing. We need to strengthen our tracking system, so that the incoming missiles can be easily and quickly detected. During the mission, our radars and tracking systems worked as expected and we demonstrated clinical precision,” said the scientist. Though the DRDO claimed to have achieved a direct hit, reliable sources said the target missile was destroyed when the interceptor homed on it at a ‘missed distance’ of 1.5 metre, which is close to direct hit. A defence release stated that for the first time the DRDO had set up a Mission Control Centre (MCC) in Hyderabad to ensure the successful interception. MCC of the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme is one of the most advanced, automated net-centric command and control system in the world. The MCC, located over 1,200 km from the test range facility at Wheeler Island, received the data about the target missile from multiple radar systems in real time situation and issued commands to the AAD system, the release detailed.
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