The DRDO and the Indian Navy have successfully conducted the maiden salvo launch of the indigenous Naval Anti-ship Missile Short Range (‘NASM-SR’) from a helicopter of the Navy off the Odisha coast in the Bay of Bengal. The trial involved launching two missiles in quick succession to evaluate the air-launched anti-ship system.
The missile, developed by the Research Center Imarat (RCI) in Hyderabad along with other labs of the DRDO, weighs 400 kg and can carry a warhead payload of up to 100 kg. It has a length of 3.6 m, a diameter of 300 mm, a strike range of 55 km, and a speed of Mach 0.8. The ‘NASM-SR’ can function at altitudes between 50 m and 3 km.