The Defence Ministry has commissioned a new missile into the fighter jets of the Indian Air Force. The missile is a Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air missile (BVRAAM). That is, where the pilot does not notice, this missile is going to destroy the enemy. The Ministry of Defence has signed a deal worth Rs 2971 crore with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for this. The name of this missile is Astra MkI.
So far, no indigenous missile of this category has been given. It exists in many variants. Capable of attacking in any kind of range. At the moment, variants are present, they are able to strike from 10 km to 110 km. It is currently reported to be installed in the Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet. But in the future, mirage 2000, Tejas and Mikoyan are also going to be installed in MiG-29.
Astra Mk-I BVRAAM has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Beyond visual range i.e. those who are not able to give the target with the eyes, this missile is going to be useful in shooting them down. Such missiles have provided stand-off range to their fighter jets. The stand-off range means that by firing a missile towards the enemy, he himself gets the right time to avoid the attack from his attack. DRDO has conducted several successful tests of this missile.
The ASTRA MkI missile weighs 154 kg. About 12. It's 6 feet long. Whose diameter is 7 inches. The cost of a missile comes to about 7 to 8 crore rupees. It has been continuously built since 2017. The first variant is the ASTRA MkI. Its range is 110 kilometers.
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