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SMART weapon system will help Navy in engaging enemy submarines from far-off distances, says DRDO chief

The SMART weapon system was successfully testfired for the first time on October 5 where a supersonic missile was used to launch a torpedo against a simulated submarine as a target.

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Once fully developed, the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release Torpedo (SMART) weapon system would boost the Navy's anti-submarine warfare capability and allow it to engage enemy submarines from far off distances, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy said here on Wednesday.

The SMART weapon system was successfully testfired for the first time on October 5 where a supersonic missile was used to launch a torpedo against a simulated submarine as a target and the test was fully successful.

SMART is a missile assisted release of lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations for far beyond torpedo range. This launch and demonstration are significant in establishing ASW capabilities.

"A torpedo has a limited range capability. The range of torpedo is enhanced through many mechanisms. One of the mechanisms is a supersonic missile assisted release of the torpedo, that is how it is called SMART," Reddy told ANI in an exclusive interview while explaining the capabilities of different missiles tested successfully by India in the last few weeks.

He said a torpedo has been incorporated in the front sections of a missile and it carried the torpedo to the designated point and then opened it up.

"All these operations have very successfully functioned in the very first attempt itself. So, this enhances the capability of the Indian Navy once the system gets fully proven and inducted into the armed forces. The Navy's capability to engage submarines at far of distances is also feasible," Reddy added.

The test was carried out on October 5 from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Balasore off the coast of Odisha. 

All mission objectives, including missile flight up to the range and altitude, separation of the nose cone, the release of Torpedo and deployment of Velocity Reduction Mechanism (VRM), were met perfectly, a statement from the Ministry of Defence said.

The tracking stations (Radars, Electro Optical Systems) along the coast and the telemetry stations including down range ships monitored all the events, the ministry added.

Multiple DRDO laboratories, including DRDL, RCI Hyderabad, ADRDE Agra, NSTL Visakhapatnam, have developed the technologies required for SMART.

(With ANI inputs)

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