In a big boost to defence, India successfully tests glide bomb

NEW DELHI: India on Friday successfully test-fired an indigenously-developed, lightweight ‘glide bomb’ at Chandipur in Odisha. The ‘smart anti-airfield weapon’ (SAAW), developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI), other labs and the Indian Air Force, was fired from an air force aircraft.

“The guided bomb released from the aircraft and guided through precision navigation system, reached the targets at greater than 70 km range, with high accuracies,” the defence ministry said in a statement. Three tests of the SAAW with different release conditions and ranges were conducted and all were successful, it said. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman congratulated the DRDO scientists and the IAF for the successful tests.

S Christopher, chairman of DRDO, said SAAW will soon be inducted into the armed forces. The SAAW project was sanctioned in September 2013. In May last year, the DRDO conducted the weapon’s first test from an IAF Jaguar aircraft in Bengaluru. The second test was conducted from a Su-30MKI fighter in December last year.


SAAW has been described as a 120 kg smart weapon, which is capable of engaging targets with high precision up to a range of 100 km. The long-range will allow the IAF to easily hit targets across the border without putting the pilot and aircraft at risk. It can be integrated into the varied types of fighter jets with the IAF. The weapon can be used to destroy bunkers, runways, aircraft hangers and other reinforced structures.