HYDERABAD: Minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt flagged off the indigenously made Astra missiles for the Indian Air Force (IAF) here on Sunday.
The missile was flagged off at Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in Kanchanbagh in the presence of its chairman and managing director, Commodore A. Madhavarao (retd) and senior officials from DRDO, IAF and BDL.
The 100+ km range Astra is a beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile developed by DRDO and manufactured by BDL. The Astra Weapon System (AWS) is best in its class of weapon systems in the world in the category of air-to-air missiles, said DRDO in a press release.
With the latest launch, BDL has positioned itself among a select few global companies with capabilities to manufacture state-of-the-art air-to-air missiles.
The minister congratulated BDL team for their efforts to realise the dream of an indigenously developed missile, in line with the union government’s Atma Nirbhar policy. He appreciated the contribution being made by BDL towards enhancing the country’s defence exports.
Bhatt visited various manufacturing facilities at the Kanchanbagh unit of BDL, where he was apprised about the manufacturing capabilities.
Madhavarao said that they were driven by the ‘Make in India’ motto.
Bhatt visited the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Missile Complex Hyderabad and Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and reviewed the ongoing missile technologies and related programmes.
Meanwhile, HQ Telangana & Andhra Sub Area celebrated the eighth Veterans' Day with gusto. The celebration was attended by over 1,400 veterans and veer naris, the wives of fallen defence personnel. Bhatt felicitated the veer naris and paid homage to the fallen soldiers.
