By: Vivek Raghuvanshi
NEW DELHI — India's equivalent of the United States' Tomahawk Land Attack Missile — the Nirbhay cruise missile — has received an extension of 16 months for further development, despite failing its fourth test.
"After a review of the Nirbhay program last week, defense minister gave further time till June 2018 to allowed Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) to do their best on the program," a Ministry of Defense official said.
However, analysts suspect that technical snags will hold back the Nirbhay program throughout its extension.
The fourth test of Nirbhay failed Dec. 21 "because the engine lost its thrust minutes after takeoff and the flight control system and other software failed as well," a DRDO scientist said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Nirbhay faces problems "with TERCOM, or terrain contour mapping. It tends to rise up periodically while following the predetermined route. It could be that the radar altimeter and the computer are not talking on a regular basis," the scientist added.
There have been repeated component and hardware failures as well. "Stability of the flight over long range has been the main problem," according to the DRDO scientist.
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