Defence News: To Counter China-Pakistan Threat In Indian Ocean, DRDO Successfully Tests Anti-Submarine Missile System

The Indian Ocean is set to be the next highly tense region with China looking to expand its influence in the region. China's proximity with Pakistan and Maldives has already been a cause of concern for India and New Delhi has been working to secure its borders on three sides to mitigate any threat. Now, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) today carried out a successful trial of the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) anti-submarine missile system off the coast of Balasore, Odisha. 

The missile system is being developed for the Indian Navy by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said the Defence officials. This will enable the Navy to eliminate submarine threats deep under the sea, enhancing its warfare capabilities. It has a far greater range than conventional torpedoes systems. While the conventional torpedoes systems have a range of around 20-40 km, the SMART system has a range several times more that the conventional system.

The DRDO had carried out similar test in 2020 and 2021 as well. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had successfully tested supersonic missile assisted torpedo system from Wheeler Island in Odisha on December 13, 2021 as well. 

#WATCH: Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) successfully flight tested today from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha. It's a missile assisted release of lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for Anti Submarine Warfare operations far beyond Torpedo range pic.twitter.com/Ts1Ev4uYne — ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2020

This canister-based missile system consists of advanced technologies viz. two stage solid propulsion, electro-mechanical actuators and precision inertial navigation. The missile is launched from ground mobile launcher and it can cover a range of distances. A number of DRDO laboratories developed various technologies for this advanced missile system. Industry participated in the development and production of various sub-systems.