Balasore : The country's most sophisticated short-range surface-to-air missile Trishul was test-fired from a range near here today, defence sources said. The missile was test fired from a mobile launcher at the integrated test range at Chandipur-on-Sea, about 15 km from here, at about 11.50 am. Trishul was targeted at a micro-light aircraft that had been flown in earlier.

Powered by a two-stage solid propellant engine, the missile was fired over a range of nine kilometres. The range of the missile, indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), could be enhanced with the completion of trials, the sources said.

Trishul, about three metres in length and 200 cm in diameter, flies at supersonic speed and is capable of carrying a 15-kg payload. The missile has a triple battlefield role for the army, air force and navy and can engage targets like aircraft and helicopters by using its radar command-to-line-of-sight guidance.

With high manoeuvrability, the missile has earlier been flight tested in a sea-skimming role and against moving targets. The naval version of Trishul, part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development programme, has a sensitive radar-altimeter and height lock-loop control while the army variant, called the Trishul Combat Vehicle (TCV) system, is based on a tracked BMP-1 infantry combat vehicle and houses equipment like radars, command-guidance system and missiles, the sources said.