India on Sunday successfully test-fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile air defense system in Odisha’s Balasore. This information was given by DRDO. This defense system is part of the Indian Army. DRDO said the missile test was conducted at 10.30 am on Sunday.
DRDO said that in this test, the missile hit its target located at a long distance directly. Earlier, on 23 March, a test was conducted in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in which India successfully test-fired the surface-to-surface BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. This missile also hit its target directly.
At the same time, on January 11, Indian scientists successfully test-fired the BrahMos cruise missile. The new version of the modernized supersonic BrahMos cruise missile was successfully test fired from a stealth guided missile destroyer of the Indian Navy. According to DRDO, the missile had successfully hit the designated target.
India is continuously expanding its defense sector and is taking strong steps towards becoming self-reliant in this field. The central government is emphasizing on reducing the country’s defense imports and increasing exports. Recently, Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt had informed in the Lok Sabha that in 2014-15, India had exported weapons worth 1941 crores. Whereas in the financial year 2021-22, arms worth Rs 11,607 crore have been exported.
Arms exports have increased 6 times
India’s arms exports have increased 6 times in the last 8 years. Over the years, the central government has taken several steps to promote exports. India has set a target of increasing defense exports to Rs 36,500 crore by the financial year 2024-25. According to a report released by SIPRI, India has increased spending on defense budget by 76 per cent between 2011 and 2020.