India successfully flight testes missile system SFDR booster off Odisha coast

New Delhi, Apr 8: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Friday successfully flight tested the Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) booster at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The test successfully demonstrated the reliable functioning of all critical components involved in the complex missile system and met all the mission objectives.

The SFDR-based propulsion enables the missile to intercept aerial threats at very long range at supersonic speeds. The performance of the system has been confirmed from the data captured by a number of range instruments like Telemetry, Radar and Electro Optical Tracking Systems deployed by ITR, the statement added.

The SFDR has been developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories such as Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO for the successful trial of SFDR. He termed it as an important milestone towards development of critical missile technologies in the country. Complimenting the teams involved in design, development and testing, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy said, with the successful trial of SFDR, the range of air-to-air missiles can be enhanced.