Indigenously developed helicopter-launched Nag missile test fired from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan

Indigenously developed helicopter-launched Nag (HeliNa) missile was on 12 July 2015 test fired at the Chandhan firing range in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. HeliNa is a variant of Nag anti-tank guided missile (ATGM).

Out of the three trials conducted by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), only two were successful in hitting the target.

About Nag Missile

• It is a third generation fire-and-forget and can be fired during night and day.
• It is equipped with top attack capability to nullify the explosive reactive armour (ERA) of a battle tank.
• It weighs 42kg having 1.90m length and can be fired against both moving and fixed targets.
• Besides HeliNa, it has land, air-launched and man portable (weighing 14 kg) versions.
• To carry the land version, DRDO developed the NAMICA (Nag Missile Carrier) for the army.
• While the land version can hit targets in the range between 500m to 4km, the range of air-launched version is between 7 and 10 km. It can carry a war head weighing up to 8kg.
• It has been developed at a cost of 300 crore rupees by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
• Once inducted in the Armed Forces, the HeliNa missile will be integrated with the weaponised version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, the light combat helicopter produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Now get latest Current Affairs on mobile, Download # 1 Current Affairs App