India fires missile from drone, Rajnath Singh calls it ‘major boost to defence capabilities'
The flight trials of the third-generation Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM-V3) were conducted by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at the National Open Area Range in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.
The missile, designed to engage a wide variety of targets in both plain and high-altitude regions, was fired from a UAV developed by Indian start-up Newspace Research Technologies.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh called the successful launch of the UAV-Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM-V3) a 'significant boost to India's defence capabilities.'
'Congratulations to DRDO and the industry partners, DcPPs, MSMEs and Start-ups for the development and successful trials of the ULPGM-V3 system. This success proves that the Indian industry is now ready to absorb and produce critical Defence Technologies,' defence minister Rajnath Singh wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The system was developed by DRDO in collaboration with several of its labs, including RCI, DRDL, TBRL, HEMRL, ITR and DLRL.
Private sector firms such as Adani Defence and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) participated as development-cum-production partners. Over 30 Indian start-ups and MSMEs also contributed to various components of the missile.
Here are the key highlights of ULPGM-V3:
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