‘It’s As Big As Pokhran Nuclear Tests’: Former DRDO Chief Stresses Upon Mission Shakti’s Importance

Former DRDO chief VK Saraswat and present member of NITI Aayog equated the successful test of India’s anti-satellite missile A-SAT mission yesterday (27 March) with the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests carried under the first NDA government, reports Economic Times (ET).

“It is equal to the Pokhran test of 1998 because the will of the nation is what is most important. At that time Atal Behari Vajpayee showed that will and that’s why such a thing happened,” he said recently in an interview with Times Of India (TOI).

“The ramification of that class is not there this time and we don't have to worry about that part. As far as technology is concerned as far as the nation's stature is concerned we have gone up by an inch”.

On Wednesday (27 March), India demonstrated its anti-satellite capability by shooting down a satellite in the Low-Earth Orbit, at the height of 300 km. The test, called ‘Mission Shakti’, was conducted from the Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha.

The demonstration of this capability has put India in an elite club of nations which can shoot down satellites in orbit. India has become the fourth country in the world after the US, Russia and China to demonstrate this capability.

Not Based On Prithvi

Also in an interview with ANI, current DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy rejected speculative reports that the A-SAT was a derivative of the Prithvi ballistic missile family. He said that the new missile was developed specifically as an anti-satellite weapon. "The missile has technologies developed for ballistic missile defence applications, particularly the kill vehicle," said Reddy.

Also Watch: The First Launch Of India’s Satellite-Killer Missile