Indian Navy Successfully Fires Prototype Anti-Ship Missile

The Indian Navy’s efforts to develop a sovereign naval anti-ship missile reached a significant milestone with the successful test-firing of a prototype projectile from a helicopter.

As per a recent press statement from the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD), an Indian Navy Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King fired its first domestically developed Naval Anti-Ship missile (NASM-SR) at its Chandipur test range facility on Tuesday.

The infra-red seeking missile “scored a direct hit on a small ship target in sea-skimming mode at its maximum range,” according to the statement.

The weapon is being developed by India’s Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) alongside a variety of industry partners. It features a high bandwidth two-way datalink, which sends live images back to the pilot and allows in-flight retargeting.

The statement noted: “The missile was launched in bearing-only, lock-on-after-launch mode, with several targets in close vicinity.... The missile initially locked on to a large target within a specified zone of search and during the terminal phase, the pilot selected a smaller hidden target, resulting in its being  hit with pinpoint accuracy.”

• You can read more details on the Indian MoD press statement