WHY IN THE NEWS?

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test-fired medium-range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, off Odisha coast.
• Nirbhay is India’s first Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM).
• ITCM Nirbhay was successfully test-launched with a Made-in-India Manik turbofan engine.
• This was the first successful test-firing of the missile with the indigenous booster engine. It can use both conventional and nuclear weapons of 200 to 300 kilograms.
• The missile can be launched from multiple platforms. ITCM Nirbhay can travel at a speed of 0.7 to 0.9 Mach, or 4 to 7 times faster than the speed of sound.