A missile test conducted in April this year as part of the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield project by getting an interceptor missile to knock out an incoming ballistic missile failed due to a fault in one of the sensors, DRDO chief Avinash Chander said on Monday.
Speaking in the capital, the DRDO chief also called for a performance audit of certain imported (foreign) defence systems vis-a-vis Indian defence systems developed by the DRDO, pointing out that the indigenous Arjun Main Battle Tank (MBT) developed by the DRDO was even superior to the Russian T-90 tank in terms of firepower. Advocating the establishment of a military industrial complex in India in which even select private defence industries are allowed use of government infrastructure, the DRDO chief also called for establishment of more test ranges for the DRDO where defence equipment can be tested.
So far as the failure of the last BMD test in April was concerned, the DRDO chief said the causes of the failure would be reviewed and remedial action taken. He said the failed test was an exo-atmospheric test. A exo-atmospheric test is one in which an interceptor missile knocks out the incoming missile outside the earth's atmosphere.
The BMD project of the DRDO aims at providing Indian cities and strategic centres with a ballistic missile shield to prevent any destruction by enemy missiles. The Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system aims at the ability to knock out incoming missiles at very high altitudes.
Incidentally, the DRDO is also pursuing an Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project which aims at manufacturing an aircraft even superior to the French Rafale aircraft in terms of stealth features.