India has yet again successfully tested its Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW), a precision-guided glide bomb specialised at making runways and airfields unsuitable for take-off and landing operations. The latest round of tests of the SAAW were carried out at the Chandan Firing Range near Pokhran in Rajasthan.
A statement from the Ministry of Defence on Sunday said the tests, which were the eighth round of developmental trails, were carried out from August 16 to 18. Various arms of India’s defence establishment like the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Indian Air Force (IAF) participated in the tests and recorded their observations.
“The weapon system was integrated with live warhead and has destroyed the targets with high precision. The telemetry and tracking systems captured all the mission events. This weapon is capable of destroying variety of ground targets using precision navigation. A total of three tests with different release conditions were conducted… and all the mission objectives have been achieved,” read the statement.
SAAW
SAAW weighs around 125-150 kgs and has a strike distance of 80-100 kms. The weapon will lend a supreme power to Air Force as this means the IAF can hit adversary airfields with high precision and from a safe distance.
In addition, its high explosive warhead with deep penetration capabilities can easily destroy even the steel reinforced concrete runways and make it impossible for the enemy aircraft to even take off while being controlled from the cockpit.
The weapon can easily cover the airways of the entire Pakistan. Major operational bases in Pakistan are located at Rafiqui (Shorkot), Masroor (Karachi), Samungli (Quetta), Minhas (Kamra), Peshawar and PAF Base Mushaf (Sargodha).
The captive and release trials were tracked by Radar and Telemetry ground stations at ITR during the entire duration of the flight. The performance of all systems were satisfactory with all the mission objectives achieved.
It is an Air to Surface weapon and can be launched from Jaguar and Su-30 aircraft. In future, the same can be integrated to the French Rafale aircraft being imported by the IAF.
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