The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Guided flight trials of Astra BVRAAM in September

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Monday, Aug 18, 2008
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Guided flight trials of Astra BVRAAM in September

Ravi Sharma

BANGALORE: India still has a way to go before it can test fire the indigenously designed and developed Astra beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) from the Air Force’s most lethal airborne platform, the Su-30MKI long-range multi-role fighter.

Dismissing newspaper reports that the first full test flight of the Astra with the missile being fired from the Su-30MKI would be undertaken anytime soon as “rubbish,” Astra Project Director S. Gollakota told The Hindu that it would not be until “sometime in 2009” that the test could be performed. “We are working towards that date.”

Dr. Gollakota, however, disclosed that the ground or guided flight trials of the futuristic missile that will intercept targets at Mach 1.2 to 1.4 will be conducted in September or October. “The complete missile will be tested on a moving target at the Chandipur (Orissa) Interim Test Range (ITR) to prove its guidance system.”

Once successful, the next step in the missile’s testing would be its captive or carriage flight trails, where the BVRAAM’s mechanical and electrical compatibility with the aircraft will be verified. This, according to the Project Director, should happen in “December or January.” During the carrier trials, a Su-30MKI will carry an Astra missile which has not been electrically or electronically ‘connected’ to the aircraft’s on-board systems.

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