New Delhi: India has successfully test fired indigenously developed New Generation Akash Missile (Akash-NG), a Surface to Air Missile defence system off the coast of Odisha in Balasore on Friday.

India has successfully test fired indigenously developed New Generation Akash Missile (Akash-NG), a Surface to Air Missile defence system off the coast of Odisha in Balasore on Friday. This is the second test firing of the 30 km strike-range air defence missile systems in the last two days.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation officials in a statement said, "New Generation Akash (Akash-NG) missile has been successfully flight tested today at 1145 hrs from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha. The test was carried out against a high-speed unmanned aerial target which was successfully intercepted by the missile. "Today's flight test of Akash-NG has validated the functioning of complete weapon system consisting of the Missile with indigenously developed RF Seeker, Launcher, Multi-Function Radar and Command, Control & Communication system," the DRDO said.

The test was carried out amidst inclement weather conditions proving the all-weather capability of the weapon system. The system performance was validated through the data captured by a number of Radar, Telemetry and Electro-Optical Tracking systems deployed by ITR, Chandipur.

A team of Indian Air Force Officers witnessed the test, DRDO officials said. Once deployed, the Akash-NG weapon system will prove to be a force multiplier for the Air Defence capability of the Indian Air Force. Production agencies Bharat Electronics (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) have also participated in the trials.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO, BDL, BEL, Indian Air Force and the industry for the successful test. DRDO chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy congratulated the team for the successful test.