India / IAF, DRDO successfully test indigenously developed Long-Range Bomb

New Delhi: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday successfully flight tested an indigenously developed Long-Range Bomb (LRB) from an aerial platform, the ministry of defence said in a statement.

Further, the ministry also said that the LR bomb, after being released from a fighter aircraft of the IAF, was guided to a land-based target at a long range “with accuracy within specified limits.” The ministry also noted that all the objectives of the mission were successfully met during the test-flight.

“All the mission objectives were successfully met. The flight of the bomb and the performance was monitored by a number of range sensors including Electro Optical Tracking System (EOTS), Telemetry and radar deployed by the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha,” the ministry said.

The bomb was designed and developed by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a DRDO laboratory in Hyderabad, Telangana, in coordination with other DRDO laboratories. The RCI lab is involved in the research and development (R&D) of avionics systems.

Meanwhile, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh has conveyed his congratulations to the DRDO, the IAF and the other teams involved in the trial flight, the ministry said. Singh said that the feat will prove to be a “force multiplier for the Indian Armed Forces.”

Also, G Satheesh Reddy, chairman of the DRDO, said that the successful test flight of the indigenously developed LR Bomb has “marked an important milestone” in the indigenous development of this class of weapon systems.

The development came a few days after the country successfully test fired the Agni-5 missile, from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha. The ministry said that the missile was capable of hitting targets at ranges upto 5,000kms “with very high degree of accuracy.”

“The successful test of Agni-5 is in line with India’s stated policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence’ that underpins the commitment to ‘No First Use’,” the ministry said earlier in a statement.