18 Apr 2024: PIB Summary for UPSC

18 Apr 2024 PIB
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM)
2. IREDA

1. Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM)

Syllabus: GS-3, Security & Defence

Prelims: Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM), DRDO

Context:

Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile successfully flight-tested by DRDO off the Odisha coast.

Details:

• DRDO conducted a successful flight test of the Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.
• The missile performance was monitored by several Range Sensors like Radar, Electro-Optical Tracking System (EOTS) and Telemetry deployed by ITR at different locations to ensure complete coverage of the flight path. The flight of the missile was also monitored from the Su-30-Mk-I aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
• This successful flight test has also established the reliable performance of the indigenous propulsion system developed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), Bengaluru.

About ITCM:

• The missile is developed by Bengaluru-based DRDO laboratory Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) along with contributions from other laboratories and Indian industries.
• This subsonic long-range land-attack cruise missile, with a canister-launch system, will eventually be one of the mainstays of the tri-service Integrated Rocket Force to be raised for conventional (non-nuclear) combat capabilities and deterrence.
• India’s four-year-long military confrontation in Eastern Ladakh with China as well as ongoing conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict have underscored the need for long-range precision vectors and led India to begin the groundwork for the proposed Integrated Rocket Force (IRF).
• The ITCM is a cruise missile in the IRF’s arsenal. Cruise missiles, as opposed to ballistic missiles, are designed to fly at low altitudes, almost hugging the surface, to evade enemy radars and missile defence systems. The IRF will have a mix of conventional cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.