India completed testing the Pinaka Extended Range (Pinaka-ER) rocket Saturday, qualifying the weapon for series production

The Indian Ministry of Defence said successful tests of Pinaka-ER, Area Denial Munitions (ADM) and indigenously developed fuzzes had been carried out at various test ranges. The Pinaka-ER Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher System was successfully tested at Pokhran range. The system is jointly designed by laboratories of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) - Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune.

The DRDO, along with the Army, conducted series of performance evaluation trials of these industry produced rockets at Field Firing Ranges during the last three days. In these trials, enhanced range Pinaka rockets were test fired at different ranges with various warhead capabilities. All the trial objectives were met satisfactorily. A number of 24 rockets were fired for different ranges and warhead capabilities to meet the objectives of accuracy and consistency. With this, the initial phase of technology absorption of Pinaka-ER by the Industry Partner has successfully been completed making the Industry Partner ready for series production of the rocket system.

The Pinaka-ER is the upgraded version of earlier Pinaka version which has been in service with the Indian Army for the last decade. The system has been designed in the light of emerging requirements with advanced technologies enhancing the range.

The Area Denial Munition (ADM) variants of munition designed by the ARDE, Pune for Pinaka and manufactured by the industry partners under technology transfer were successfully carried out at Pokhran Field Firing Ranges. These trials are part of performance evaluation under technology absorption.

The indigenously-developed proximity fuses for Pinaka rockets have also been tested. The ARDE, Pune has developed different fuses for Pinaka rocket for different types of applications. After design validation trials, dynamic performance evaluation of these fuses have been evaluated with flight testing. Consistency in performance of fuses has been established in consecutive flight trials, the ministry said.

These has been developed through dedicated indigenous R&D efforts for the first time in the country. These indigenously developed fuses will replace the imported fuses and save foreign exchange. The ARDE has also designed miniaturised fuses for ADMs. Performance of dual-purpose Direct-Action Self Destruction (DASD) & Anti-Tank Munition (ATM) fuses were evaluated during the current flight trials and the results were satisfactory. All the mission objectives were successfully in all the above trials.