Balasore: India on Monday successfully conducted a pilot test of the supersonic missile assisted release of torpedo (SMART) system developed in the country from a test center located in the Odisha offshore area. Defense sources said the test was carried out at 11.45 am from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, formerly known as Wheeler Island.
He said that the test was successful and all standards were achieved. The ‘smart’ system is a lightweight torpedo system for submarine destroyer operations. The official statement said that this test and demonstration is very important in establishing anti-submarine capability.
An Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) official said that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO scientists for the test, which is a major achievement in anti-submarine warfare. India had successfully test-fired a hypersonic missile ‘Shaurya’, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that had developed in the country for a distance of over a thousand kilometers, on Saturday ahead of the ‘smart’ test.
The statement said that all the objectives of the ‘SMART’, including the missile flight to the target and altitude, the release of torpedoes, the speed control system (VRM) were fully achieved. Entire testing of ‘SMART’ was monitored from radar and monitoring systems deployed on electro-optical systems near the coast, ‘telemetry’ stations and ships.
Sources said that the technology required for ‘smart’ has been developed by various DRDO laboratories including DRDL, RCI Hyderabad, ADRDE Agra and NSTL Visakhapatnam.
Dr. G. Satish Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defense Research and Development and Chairman of DRDO, said that the ‘smart’ system is the reversing technology in submarine destroyer warfare operations.
The statement said that ‘smart’ when fired from a warship or any other coastal platform, it flies like a normal supersonic missile. It travels most of its flight at low altitudes in the air. When it reaches near an enemy submarine that is submerged in the sea, a ‘torpedo’ emanates from within it, destroying the enemy target by ripping water.
