At the missile test range in Chandipur, where the Bay of Bengal laps the Orissa coast, the massive, 5-tonne, 9-metre-long Prithvi ballistic missile readied for a mission for which it had never been designed. Fitted with a special rocket motor, the Prithvi — which normally climbs 40 km to the edge of space on its journey to a ground target some 350 km away — would today rocket up 110 km, mimicking the flight path of a larger enemy ballistic missile with a range of 600 km. Hurtling back into the atmosphere and poised above its target, the Prithvi would be targeted by the Defence R&amp;D Organisation’s (DRDO’s) new Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor. The hunter would become the hunted.

><table width='100%' border=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: #0253B7;'>Star wars over India</td></tr><tr><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11px; '>On November 23, a high-tech aerial duel took place near Orissa. And it established the country

At the missile test range in Chandipur, where the Bay of Bengal laps the Orissa coast, the massive, 5-tonne, 9-metre-long Prithvi ballistic missile readied for a mission for which it had never been designed. Fitted with a special rocket motor, the Prithvi — which normally climbs 40 km to the edge of space on its journey to a ground target some 350 km away — would today rocket up 110 km, mimicking the flight path of a larger enemy ballistic missile with a range of 600 km. Hurtling back into the atmosphere and poised above its target, the Prithvi would be targeted by the Defence R&D Organisation’s (DRDO’s) new Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor. The hunter would become the hunted.

Star wars over India

On November 23, a high-tech aerial duel took place near Orissa. And it established the countrys ability to countera missile attack mid-air.

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