The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have conducted successful flight tests of the RudraM-II air-to-surface missile from an airborne platform. The trials were carried out under extreme release conditions with a critical trajectory that established the capability of all subsystems. The series of releases tested the missile's guidance, seeker and propulsion elements in an operationally representative environment.

The missiles, released from the aircraft, were guided to a predefined target with pinpoint accuracy and all test objectives were fully met as confirmed by flight data captured by various range instruments. Instruments were deployed by the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, which monitored telemetry, tracking and impact assessment. Post-flight analysis of the recorded data validated performance parameters and mission success criteria.

The RudraM-II has been indigenously developed by the Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad, as the nodal DRDO laboratory, in collaboration with sister laboratories including the Defence Research and Development Laboratory, the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory and the Armament Research and Development Establishment. Development cum Production Partners (DcPPs) and public sector undertakings such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, along with the Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness, the Missile System Quality Assurance Agency and a number of industry partners, contributed significantly to the programme.

The Raksha Mantri lauded the effort of DRDO, the IAF, defence public sector undertakings, DcPPs and the wider industry for the successful flight tests and said the trials demonstrated the growing maturity of indigenous defence technologies, contributing significantly to Aatmanirbharta in advanced weapon systems. The Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman DRDO congratulated all teams associated with the test for the commendable achievement. The successful campaign marks a milestone in missile development and will support enhanced operational capability for airborne precision strike missions.