Balasore: The subsonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ was successfully test-fired off Odisha coast today, informed the DRDO.
Nirbhay is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile designed and developed in India by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) which is under Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The missile can be launched from multiple platforms and is capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads. It is currently deployed in limited numbers in LAC during standoff with China.
Nirbhay is powered by a solid rocket booster for take off which is developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL). Upon reaching the required velocity and height, a Turbofan engine in the missile takes over for further propulsion. The missile is guided by an inertial navigation system developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and a radio altimeter for the height determination.
The DRDO has been carrying out several trials of Nirbhay since October 2014.
Last year, the missile had developed technical snag during a test firing following which the trial process was aborted.
