India's LRLACM, flight tested for the first time on 12 November, has an envisaged maximum strike range of 1,500 km for naval launch and 1,000 km for land and air launch. (PIB)
India's state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has flight tested for the first time its new Long-Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LRLACM), the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced.
The LRLACM was launched on 12 November from a mobile articulated launcher from the DRDO's Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur, Odisha, on India's east coast, the MoD said.
“During the test, all subsystems performed as per expectation and met the primary mission objectives,” the MoD said. “The missile followed the desired path using waypoint navigation and demonstrated its capability to perform various manoeuvres while flying at various altitudes and speeds.”
According to the MoD, the LRLACM's performance was validated through flight data captured by tracking instruments, including electro-optical systems, radar, and telemetry stations based at the ITR.
The LRLACM has been developed by the DRDO's Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) in Bangalore. Bharat Dynamics Limited, based in Hyderabad, and Bharat Electronics Limited, headquartered in Bangalore, have also contributed to its development and production.
The missile is being developed for air, land, and sea operations. The MoD said the LRLACM is configured to launch from ground using a mobile articulated launcher and from naval vessels using a vertical launch module system.
In August 2023 India's Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved in principle the procurement of the LRLACM system for the Indian Air Force. Details about the planned procurement of the missile have not been disclosed by the MoD, but testing of the missile is likely to continue for several more years before introduction into service.
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