The interceptor missile tests carried out on May 15 was a failure despite claims by Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as a success.
According to a report by the Hindu citing unnamed informed sources as saying that, the interceptor never took off to intercept the incoming ‘enemy’ missile which merely fell into the Bay of Bengal.
An agency report on May 16 said a modified Prithvi missile was launched on May 15 from a naval ship in the Bay of Bengal and it mimicked the trajectory of a missile coming from an enemy country.
The interceptor missile never took off from the island; so no interception took place at all. “Post-flight analysis is going on. We do not know whether there was problem in detecting the missile, whether radars tracked it and communicated it to the interceptor,” said the sources.
The DRDO developed both the Prithvi missile and the interceptor.