DRDO Tests 500 Kg General Purpose Bomb From Su-30MKI Aircraft

India's indigenously developed precision guided high speed low drag (HSLD) bomb weighing 500 kg has been successfully tested from the Su-30MKI aircraft in the western state of Rajasthan last week.

Developed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) of the state-owned Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), India’s General Purpose Bomb 'PGHSLD-500’ underwent flight trials during May-June 2017 released from Su-30mki aircraft at Air Force Station, Jodhpur, fitted on a hard point and was released from an altitude of 5 km to validate its separation performance and to estimate stability, DRDO newsletter states.

“During the carriage trials, the aircraft touched the carriage limits of 0.85 at 150 m altitude and completed 6.5 ‘g’ and full roll maneuvers. The structural integrity of the bomb was found satisfactory after the trials,” DRDO said.

According to an official document, these bombs are effective against ground targets like railway yards/bridges, major installations, bunkers, runways and hardened targets. The bomb can be carried on various in-service aircraft like Jaguar, MiG and other advanced combat aircraft of the Indian Air Force.