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'Nishant' successfully testfired

The indigenously built unmanned air vehicle 'Nishant' was successfully testfired from the Interim Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from Balasore, today.

According to official sources, the air vehicle, designed to perform discrete aerial reconnaissance of the battlefield including target acquisition, was test fired from the ITR at 1145 hours.

The flight target demonstrated Nishant's capabilities in accurate navigation to designed target points and in flying extended missions lasting several hours with electro-optic and photographic payloads.

The vehicle, being developed by the Defence Research and Development Laboratories with Aeronautical Development Establishment, has the most sophisticated digital microwave radio link for remote controlling the aircraft from the ground.

Meanwhile, Pakistan today protested against yesterday's missile test by India, warning such weapons programmes could ''provoke a new arms race in South Asia,'' a foreign ministry statement said.

Yesterday, India test fired a short-range ground-to-air Akash missile, designed to carry conventional weapons, as part of an ongoing missile development programme.

The Pakistani foreign ministry said they have repeatedly drawn international attention to the security implications of the Indian missile programme.

UNI

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