NEW DELHI: India tested a supersonic interceptor missile to destroy an incoming ballistic missile over the Bay of Bengal on Thursday. The experimental two-tier BMD system is supposed to track and destroy nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles both inside (endo) and outside (exo) the earth’s atmosphere. The Phase-II, in turn, will be geared for taking on 5,000 km range missiles, virtually in the class of ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), with interceptors at hypersonic speeds of 6-7 Mach. In the test, the low-altitude or endo-atmospheric Advanced Area Defence (AAD) interceptor missile hit the “enemy” missile (a modified Prithvi missile) at an altitude of 15 km, in the third such successful test this year after a string of failures. While the interceptor missile was fired from the Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast, the “enemy” missile was launched from the Launch Complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) also based in the island.

Source: Pakistan Today December 29, 2017 07:41 UTC