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Defence & Security
Mahesh

12/04/22 14:03 PM IST

‘HELINA’

In News
  • Indigenously developed helicopter launched Anti-Tank Guided Missile ‘HELINA’ was successfully flight tested at high-altitude ranges as part of user validation trials. 
  • The trial, carried out jointly by a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) team, along with the Indian Army and Air Force, was conducted from an advanced light helicopter and the missile was fired successfully at a simulated tank target.
Features of HELINA
  • The Helina is a third generation fire and forget class anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system mounted on the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).
  • It has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad under the Missiles and Strategic Systems (MSS) cluster of the DRDO.
  • According to DRDO scientists, the Helina has an operational range of 500 m to 20 km and can engage targets both in direct hit mode as well as top attack mode.
  • Additionally, the system has all weather day and night capability and can defeat battle tanks with conventional armour as well as explosive reactive armour.
  • The missile is guided by an Infrared Imaging Seeker (IIR), which makes it one of the most advanced Anti-Tank Weapons in the world.
  •  The expected cost of a single missile is to be under Rs 1 crore.
  • While the Helina is being inducted into the Indian Army, its variant, called Dhruvastra, is being inducted into the Air Force.
Why Self-Reliance ?
  • India continues to be on the world’s largest arms importers; in its latest report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showed that 11 per cent of all global arms sales were carried out by India in 2021.
  • The report, however, also revealed that India’s total volume of imports fell by 21 per cent from 2012-16.
Source-PIB 

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