The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday successfully conducted the flight-test of the Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket (LRGR) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha, validating the system’s performance at a user-defined minimum range of 60 km.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the rocket successfully executed all planned in-flight manoeuvres and struck the designated target with “textbook precision”, following the predicted trajectory. The flight was tracked throughout by all deployed range instruments.
The Pinaka LRGR has been designed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in association with the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), with support from the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and the Research Centre Imarat (RCI). The flight trial was coordinated by the Integrated Test Range and the Proof & Experimental Establishment.
The rocket was launched from the in-service Pinaka launcher, demonstrating the platform’s capability to fire different variants of the Pinaka rocket system from the same launcher.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, the Indian Army and industry partners on the successful trial, describing it as a major milestone in India’s indigenous capability to design and develop long-range guided rockets.
Defence Secretary and DRDO Chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh closely monitored the trial and congratulated the teams involved in the successful test.
