Upgraded Pinaka rocket successfully test-fired

An upgraded version of Pinaka rocket, with a guidance system and an enhanced range, was successfully test-fired from the Proof & Experiment Establishment (PXE) at Chandipur in Odisha today.

"Two rounds of tests have been conducted and some more rounds have been planned," said a defence source here.

The earlier Pinaka version, which was an unguided one, has now been upgraded into a guided version, with a navigation, guidance and control kit developed by the Research Centre, Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, he said.

The RCI comes under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

According to a source in the DRDO, the conversion helped in enhancing the range and accuracy of Pinaka.

If its range was earlier 40 km, it is more than 70 km now, he said.

"Radars, electro-optical systems and telemetry systems at the defence range at Chandipur, tracked and monitored the rocket all through its flight path. The guided version is Pinaka mark-II, which evolved from Pinaka mark-I," the source said.

The success of the guided Pinaka has reinforced the technological strength of the country in converting the unguided systems into weapons of high precision, he added.

The guided Pinaka was developed jointly by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, the RCI, and the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad.

The PXE, Chandipur, provided the range and launch support.