Astra (air to air missile) successfully test fired for second day

This file photo shows a replica of the Astra air-to-air missile (foreground) at the Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad. Astra was successfully test-fired for the second consecutive day at Chandipur in Orissa on Saturday.

The missile was test-fired at 1032 hrs and the trial was successful,” Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) sources said.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 was more advanced than the similar class of missiles of the U.S., Russia and France.

The missile’s captive flight tests from Su-30MKI were carried out near Pune in November 2009 when seven sorties were conducted.

Astra’s first flight trial took place on May 9, 2003 from the ITR at Chandipur.

source from: "thehindu news site"

faQ's

Astra (air to air missile) successfully test fired for second day