The Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test-fired the guided Pinaka rocket for the second time this year, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha, India.
The latest test on 24 January from launch complex-3 of the ITR follows a similar test-firing conducted on 12 January.
The guided Pinaka is a modified version of the Pinaka Rocket Mark-II, equipped with a navigation, guidance and control kit, the Indian Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
It was co-developed by Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) Pune, Research Centre Imarat (RCI) Hyderabad, and Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) Hyderabad.
Scientific Adviser to Indian Minister of Defence Dr G Satheesh Reddy said that the success of guided Pinaka has helped the country to convert unguided systems into weapons of high precision.
The rocket's flight performance was tracked by a range of radars, electro-optical and telemetry systems.
The test-firing met all mission objectives, the statement said.
The Indian Army uses the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launch (MBRL) system, which is capable of operating in autonomous, stand-alone, remote and manual modes.
Designed to replace the army's BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher systems, Pinaka integrates high-energy propulsion, sub-munition warheads, servo-controlled launcher configuration, and a fire control computer.
Each Pinaka rocket is able to carry a 100kg payload over a range of 40km.
Image: Pinaka MBRL truck.Photo: courtesy of Hemant.rawat1234 / Wikipedia
