India Tests Missile System for the Third Time

Indian Air Force's (IAF) helicopters fly past the Prithvi missile during the Air Force Day parade at the Air Force base at Hindon in Ghaziabad, near New Delhi. (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)

CHENNAI, India—The Indian military successfully tested its Ballistic Missile Defense System for the third time on Friday Feb. 6. The Interceptor Missile, named Prithvi Air Defense Missile (PDA), destroyed a ballistic missile at an altitude of 75 km.

The test was conducted on Wheeler Island, located in the Bay of Bengal. First a ballistic missile imitating an enemy missile was launched from a ship at 100 km off the coast. The PDA was then launched two minutes later from Wheeler Island, destroyed the ballistic missile after three minutes, at an altitude of 75 km. The whole test was conducted in less than six minutes.

The project was developed by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) of India. Its two previous test were also successful: the first was conducted at an altitude of 45 km on Nov. 27, 2006, the second at 15 km using an Advanced Air Defense Missile, on Dec. 6, 2007. DRDO will be conducting more complex tests in September and October.

India has planned to make its Ballistic Missile Defense System operational before 2012; it will make it among the few nations, including Russia, the US and Israel, who have developed Ballistic Missile Defense System.