Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 19

The Helina and Dhruvastra air launched anti-tank guided missile systems are ready for induction in the armed forces after successful trials were carried out from the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter platform in the desert ranges.

Helina is the missile’s Army version while Dhruvastra is the Air Force Version.

The missile systems have been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). These missiles are a follow-on development of the ground-based Nag anti-tank missile.

Five missions were carried out for evaluating the missile capabilities at minimum and maximum range. The missiles were fired in hover and max forward flight against realistic static and moving targets.

Few missions were carried out with warheads against derelict tanks. A mission was also carried out against a moving target from a forward flying helicopter, according to an official spokesperson.

The Helina and Dhruvastra are third generation, Lock on Before Launch (LOBL) fire and forget anti-tank guided missiles that can engage targets both in the direct hit mode as well as the top attack mode.

The system has all-weather day and night capability, and can defeat battle tanks with conventional armour as well as with explosive reactive armour.

DRDO claims it to be one of the most-advanced anti-tank weapons in the world. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, the Army and Air Force for the achievements.

Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy appreciated the effort of the teams involved in the successful trials.