Nirbhay missile test aborted after 700 seconds of launch

India's indigenous surface-to-surface long-range cruise missile, Nirbhay, nose-dived midway after the subsonic tactical cruise missile was test-fired today and the mission was aborted after 700 seconds of flight.

Nirbhay was launched from Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore district of Orissa at 11:38 hrs today. During 700 seconds of flight all the subsystems of Nirbhay cruise missile functioned satisfactorily and met all the desired functions.

All initial critical operations such as booster ignition, booster separation, wing deployment and engine start were successfully executed and Nirbhay reached the desired cruise altitude, sources at Defence Research and Design Organisation (DRDO) said.

Although the take-off was successful, amid repeated disruptions of countdown, the missile missed the target after 11 minutes after it was test fired, said the sources.

The missile had a range of 750-1,000 km but it nose-dived after covering 128 km in the Bay of Bengal. The missile's first test on 12 March 2013 had also failed as it too fell after 20 minutes of flight. The second test on 17 October 2014 was also not up to the mark as it could not maintain a low height.

The cruise missile is expected to supplement the Indo-Russian joint venture supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, which can carry warheads for up to 290 km. The two-stage missile has a length of six metres, a diameter of 0.52 m, a wing span 2.7 m and a launch weight of about 1,500 kg.