India successfully conducted the test firing of the medium-range surface-to-air missile air defence system off the coastline of Odisha’s Balasore, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said on Sunday.

The air defence system is a part of the Indian Army. During the test, the missile was successful at directly striking a target at a high distance, DRDO officials said.

“MRSAM-Army missile system flight tested from ITR Balasore, Odisha at around 10.30 hours intercepting a high-speed aerial target at long range. The target was destroyed by the missile in a direct hit,” the DRDO said.

Earlier this year, the Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile, equipped with new technological advancements, was successfully test-fired off the coast of Odisha and met all the objectives of the mission.

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“BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with increased indigenous content and improved performance was successfully test fired at 10.30 am from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on January 20. The launch was conducted by Brahmos Aerospace in close coordination with DRDO teams. In this text book flight, the missile followed the predicted trajectory meeting all mission objectives,” the DRDO had said.

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In December 2021, India test-fired a short-range, surface-to-surface guided ballistic missile named ‘Pralay’ off the coast of Odisha. 

Lauding the trial, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Twitter, “Congratulations to the DRDO and associated teams for the maiden development flight trial.”

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“My compliments to them for the fast-track development and successful launch of modern Surface-to-Surface Quasi Ballistic missile. It is a significant milestone achieved today,” he added.

Pralay is a tactical Short Range Ballistic Missile constructed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. With a range of 350-500 km, the missile has a payload capacity of 500-1,000 kg. The missile was formulated to combat interceptor missiles and possesses the ability to change its path mid-air.