DRDO, Indian Navy conducts successful trial of interceptor missile

Context

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of a sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal.

Key-highlights

Endo-atmospheric interception means the missile fired by Indian testing agencies had destroyed the incoming enemy ballistic missile within the Earth’s atmosphere.
Exo-atmospheric interception, on the other hand, is for destroying incoming enemy ballistic missiles outside of the Earth’s atmosphere at a higher altitude.

The purpose of the trial was to engage and neutralize a hostile ballistic missile threat thereby elevating India into the elite club of Nations having Naval Ballistic missile defence (BMD) capability.
- AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) and other hostile aircraft, as well as approaching long-range nuclear missiles, can be intercepted by BMDs.
Prior to this, DRDO successfully demonstrated a land-based BMD system with the capability to neutralize ballistic missile threats, emerging from adversaries.

Endo-atmospheric missiles

Endo-atmospheric interception means the missile fired by Indian testing agencies had destroyed the incoming enemy ballistic missile within the Earth’s atmosphere.
- The endo-atmospheric missiles are those that function within the earth's atmosphere and have a range of fewer than 100 kilometres.
Exo-atmospheric interception, on the other hand, is for destroying incoming enemy ballistic missiles outside of the Earth’s atmosphere at a higher altitude.
- The exo-atmospheric missiles are capable of completing missions in the uppermost part of the earth's atmosphere.
India's phase-II ballistic missile defence interceptor AD-1, which can engage a wide variety of targets, successfully completed its first flight test in November.
Long-range ballistic missiles and planes can be intercepted by the AD-1 long-range interceptor missile in both "low exo-atmospheric" and "endo-atmospheric" settings.