Astra nosedives for second time

BALASORE: In further embarrassment, the test-firing of the beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile ‘Astra’ ended in failure for the second day on Saturday with the missile disintegrating midair minutes after launch.The missile did not travel in its trajectory, broke into pieces and fell into the sea surprising the defence authorities and scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).The short-range indigenously developed missile was fired from a ground launcher at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur off the Orissa coast at about 10.32 am.  After Friday’s failed trial, scientists had reportedly rectified the glitches. ‘Astra’ got disintegrated after attaining a certain height. “The missile,” said a source, “took off as programmed. But midway it suddenly got disintegrated at an altitude of nearly 2 km. Leaving only the warhead-associated top part, the entire missile broke into pieces and fell apart in the Bay of Bengal.”A scientist associated with the test launch blamed it on ‘structural failure’ or ‘metallurgical failure’. No DRDO official, however, responded to call for an official announcement.On Friday, the missile had fallen immediately after it took off from the ground launcher as there was only 40 per cent ignition due to a fault in the programming.The DRDO had planned three rounds in two days, but having seen two failures in two days, the authorities abruptly packed off the trial schedule for an unspecified period. What has surprised the defence experts is that the developmental trial of the short-range missile has been going on for the last eight years, but it is yet to be fully probed.“The DRDO is claiming that it is developing an interceptor of 5,000 km range, but it has been  unsuccessful in conducting tests of a missile of 20 km range. It was not once, but twice. Had there been another trial,it would have also ended in a fiasco,” pointed out a retired defence employee. An official, however, said scientists are working to ensure that ‘Astra’ performs effectively at different altitudes. The 3.8-metre long missile, which has a diameter of 178 mm, can carry a warhead weighing 15 kg.