DRDO, IAF Successfully Test India’s First Indigenous Glide Weapon TARA

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have successfully conducted the maiden flight-trial of Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation (TARA) weapon off the coast of Odisha.

New Delhi: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have successfully conducted the maiden flight-trial of Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation (TARA) weapon off the coast of Odisha.

Designed and developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, the maiden flight-trial of TARA was carried out on Thursday.

A modular range extension kit, TARA is India’s first indigenous glide weapon system to convert unguided warheads into precision guided weapons.

TARA has been designed and developed to enhance the lethality and accuracy of a low-cost weapon to neutralise ground-based targets.

It is the first glide weapon to utilise state-of-the-art low-cost systems.

“The development of the kit has been undertaken with Development cum Production Partners (DcPP) & other Indian industries, which have already started the production activity,” an official said.

TARA was first publicly displayed in the DRDO tableau at the Republic Day parade of 2022.

The expected range of the bomb is 150–180 km when launched at 5 km altitude at a speed of Mach 0.8, with an expected CEP of under 5 meters.

TARA bombs will have speeds between 640–1,200 km/h and will be capable of performing terminal maneuvering with a flexible angle of attack (AoA).

As per the report, TARA will be integrated with the LCA Tejas and Su-30MKI

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO, IAF, DcPP, and the Industry for the maiden flight-trial, describing it as a significant development in advancing India’s indigenous defence capabilities.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat also congratulated the teams associated with the successful flight-trial.