Astra ballistic flight test carried out

Balasore (Orissa), May 20 (PTI) India on Friday carried
out the ballistic flight test of Astra -- Beyond-Visual-Range
Air-to-Air Missile -- from the Integrated Test Range at
Chandipur in the eastern Indian state of Orissa.
The missile was fired around 0950 hours (IST), India's
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) sources
said, adding two more tests are likely to be conducted in the
next two days.
The missile is envisaged to intercept and destroy
enemy aircraft at supersonic speeds in the head-on mode at a
range of 80 km and in tail-chase mode at 20 km.
"The main purpose of Friday's trial is to gauge the
performance of the motor, propulsion system and the
configurations of the vehicle and aero-dynamics evaluation,"
said a DRDO scientist
The data is being analysed by the scientists to
ascertain the outcome of the trial.
The missile, after its final trials, would be
integrated with fighter aircraft Su-30 MKI. Astra missiles
would also be carried by MiG-29 and Light Combat Aircraft
Tejas.
Astra, which uses solid propellant, can carry a
conventional warhead of 15 kg. It is the smallest of the
missiles developed by the DRDO in terms of size and weight.
It is 3.8-metre long and has a diameter of 178 mm with
an overall launch weight of 160 kg. The missile could be
launched from different altitudes — it can cover 110 km when
launched from an altitude of 15 km, 44 km when fired from an
altitude of eight km and 21 km when the altitude is sea-level.
DRDO officials said it is more advanced than the
similar class of missiles of the US, Russia and France. The
missile’s captive flight tests from Su-30MKI were carried out
near Pune, in the western state of Maharashtra, in November
2009 when seven sorties were conducted.
Astra’s first flight trial took place on May 9, 2003
from the ITR at Chandipur.