India's Interceptor Missile Test In The Offing: Reports

India for the very first time is planning to conduct a crucial, high-altitude interceptor missile test in the exo-atmosphere.

The first-ever high-altitude interception at around 125-140 km has been proposed, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) official was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

The exercise is part of the developmental trials for the first-phase of the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system, designed to tackle incoming enemy missiles with a range of up to 2,000 km.

India plans to deploy in two phases a home-grown, two-tiered (interception in endo and exo-atmosphere) BMD system to protect major cities fearing external attacks, according to the report.

The first phase expects the BMD system to intercept and destroy incoming enemy ballistic missiles with a range of up to 2,000 km. The second phase would aim at targeting missiles with a higher range of 2,000-5,000 km.

The critical simulation tests to be held in the last week of November, the report said. Both the interceptor missile, the PDV, and the target missile would be totally new, two-stage missiles and equipped with advanced technologies.

Once the target missile is launched from a ship, the attacker missile, carrying a dual seeker, would try to waylay the incoming missile, destroy it in a “hit-to-kill” mission. Both missiles would be travelling at a speed of around 1500 metres per second at the time of interception.

However, one of the challenges during the trial would be for the interceptor to discriminate between the booster and the payload once the first stage of the target missile gets separated, the report added.

Earlier, DRDO missile technologists have carried out exo-atmospheric interception at altitudes of 47 km and 80 km. So far, six of the seven interceptor missile tests conducted by DRDO have been successful. While two were in exo-atmosphere, the remaining took place in endo-atmosphere (above an altitude of 50 km).