BALASORE :The Indian Air Force (IAF) authorities on Thursday aborted a
mission to test Russia made short range air-to-air missile against
objects flown from a defence base off the Odisha coast as the pilotless
target aircraft (PTA) failed to take off.
Reliable sources said
the unmanned aerial vehicle - Lakshya - which was to be flown from the
launching complex-II of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at
Chandipur-on-sea could not take off due to technical snags.
“The test was scheduled to take place between 9 am and 10 am. It was, however, aborted at the last minute due to a malfunction in the PTA motor. Though the test was rescheduled for 5 pm, the faults could not be rectified by then, forcing the mission team to postpone the test to Friday,” said the sources.
As per the programme set for a series of trials of the non-DRDO Russian missile by the IAF, Sukhoi and MiG 29 fighter aircraft had to fire weapons targeting the tow body released from the PTA.
Though the aircraft had already taken off from Kalaikunda air base near Kharagpur in West Bengal and taken one sortie over Balasore sky, those were commanded to return back because of the technical glitches.
A defence official said in order to closely imitate battle scenario, the targets should be able to simulate enemy aircraft or remotely operated vehicles and achieve speed close to that of real incoming missiles or fighter jets.
These air-to-air missiles were procured by India from Russia for IAF. The missile is intended to provide protection against air strikes by manned or unmanned air vehicles flying at low and medium altitudes.
The aim and objective of the mission was to gauge the effectiveness of the missile and killing capabilities mid-air. The missile has been developed to be used against aircraft, surface-to-air and air-to-air weapons.
Sources said the Russian missile has the capability to efficiently engage targets at a range of 15 kms, at a minimum altitude of six kms in less than 10 seconds. “The efficiency of the weapons kept for long can be validated through such tests. The missiles to be used for the test have been selected randomly from the lot,” said a defence official.
This mission is crucial for the IAF, the user of the Russian missile. If all the preparations go according to the plan and the faults in the PTA fixed, another exercise will be conducted at 9 am on Friday.
“The test was scheduled to take place between 9 am and 10 am. It was, however, aborted at the last minute due to a malfunction in the PTA motor. Though the test was rescheduled for 5 pm, the faults could not be rectified by then, forcing the mission team to postpone the test to Friday,” said the sources.
As per the programme set for a series of trials of the non-DRDO Russian missile by the IAF, Sukhoi and MiG 29 fighter aircraft had to fire weapons targeting the tow body released from the PTA.
Though the aircraft had already taken off from Kalaikunda air base near Kharagpur in West Bengal and taken one sortie over Balasore sky, those were commanded to return back because of the technical glitches.
A defence official said in order to closely imitate battle scenario, the targets should be able to simulate enemy aircraft or remotely operated vehicles and achieve speed close to that of real incoming missiles or fighter jets.
These air-to-air missiles were procured by India from Russia for IAF. The missile is intended to provide protection against air strikes by manned or unmanned air vehicles flying at low and medium altitudes.
The aim and objective of the mission was to gauge the effectiveness of the missile and killing capabilities mid-air. The missile has been developed to be used against aircraft, surface-to-air and air-to-air weapons.
Sources said the Russian missile has the capability to efficiently engage targets at a range of 15 kms, at a minimum altitude of six kms in less than 10 seconds. “The efficiency of the weapons kept for long can be validated through such tests. The missiles to be used for the test have been selected randomly from the lot,” said a defence official.
This mission is crucial for the IAF, the user of the Russian missile. If all the preparations go according to the plan and the faults in the PTA fixed, another exercise will be conducted at 9 am on Friday.
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