JOIN USFinal user trial of NAG anti-tank missile successfully completed: DRDO
Indian defence scientists on Thursday successfully completed the third and final user trial of the anti-tank guided missile Nag, clearing the decks for commercial production of the weapon, whose development began nearly four decades ago.
"The missile was integrated with the actual warhead and a tank target (a discarded Vijayant tank) was kept at the designated range. The missile hit the target accurately, defeating the armour," the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said in a statement. The trial was conducted at Pokhran (Rajasthan) early in the morning.
The anti-tank guided missile, with a range of 4 km, has been developed to engage highly fortified enemy tanks in day and night conditions.
Named after former DRDO chief B D Nagchaudhuri, the home-grown weapon is a third-generation anti-tank guided missile with fire-and-forget and top-attack capabilities to effectively engage and destroy all known types of battle tanks during day and night.
The missile has passive homing guidance to defeat all types of tanks equipped with composite and reactive armour.
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In 2018, the Defence Ministry approved a Rs 524-core package to purchase more than 300 missiles and 25 of its launchers (Nag missile carrier, NAMICA) for the Indian Army.
With the final user trial over, Nag will enter the production phase.
The missile will be produced by defence public sector undertaking Bharat Dynamics Limited, whereas the ordnance factory, Medak, will produce its launcher, which is a BMP-II based system with amphibious capability.
Nag is one of the five missiles planned in the integrated guided missile programme initiated by former DRDO chief A P J Abdul Kalam in 1983. Three of the five missiles - Agni, Prithvi and Akash - are being used by the armed forces, while the Trishul project was shut down in 2008.