Amid the large-scale requirement for shoulder-fired air defence missiles, DRDO is going to carry out trials of the indigenous shoulder-fired air defence missiles before handing them over to the Indian Army for user trials.

India To Carry Out High Altitude Trials Of Indigenous Short-range Air Defence Missiles

Amid the large-scale requirement for shoulder-fired air defence missiles, DRDO is going to carry out trials of the indigenous shoulder-fired air defence missiles before handing them over to the Indian Army for user trials. The DRDO has been developing Very Short-Range Air Defence missiles to meet the requirements of the Indian Army and Air Force to tackle aerial targets like fast-moving drones, fighter aircraft and helicopters in border areas.

DRDO is looking to carry out high-altitude trials of the Indigenous tripod-fired short-range air defence missile in mountainous regions like Ladakh or Sikkim The Indian Army is progressing in two cases worth Rs 6,800 crore for developing Very Short-Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) systems indigenously, amid a lack of inventory of shoulder-fired missiles to tackle aerial threats from Pakistan and China.

The VSHORADS is propelled by a dual thrust solid motor and will be used for neutralising low altitude aerial threats at short ranges.

In February, the DRDO successfully conducted two flight tests of the VSHORADS missile from the Integrated Test Range off Odisha’s Chandipur.

These tests were carried out against high speed unmanned aerial targets under different interception scenarios. During all the test flights, the targets were intercepted and destroyed by the missiles.

The VSHORADS is a Man Portable Air Defence System, developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories and other industry partners, the defence ministry said in a statement.