Science and Technology
Pakistan Successfully Test Fires Cruise Missile Ra’ad
Pakistan on 2 February conducted a successful flight test of the indigenously developed Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) named ‘Ra’ad’. The Ra’ad Missile, with a range of over 350 km, has been developed exclusively for launch from Aerial Platforms.This missile system has enabled Pakistan to achieve a greater strategic standoff capability on land and at sea.
Iran’s Safir Rocket successfully Launches Fajr Satellite into Orbit
Iran has launched its Fajr (Dawn) observation satellite on 2 February, using a Safir-2 rocket, its first launch since 2012 and declared that it has safely entered orbit. The launch marks the 35th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution and comes one day ahead of the country’s Space Technology Day.
US Names Russian Nuclear Power Plants For India and Iran Best Projects of 2014
Iranian nuclear power station Bushehr and the Indian Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant topped the “Nuclear energy” category as the modern technologies they use produce cleaner and more effective sources of energy. The Russian-backed Iranian nuclear power station Bushehr and the Kudankulam Indian nuclear power plant projects were named projects of the year 2014 by the US Power Engineering magazine in the “Nuclear energy” category on 13 February 2015.
India Successfully Test Fired BrahMos Missile From INS Kolkata
India on 14 February successfully test-fired its 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from Indian Navy’s latest destroyer INS Kolkata. BrahMos is a missile with a range of 290 kilometers and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kilograms. It has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is three times faster than the US subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile. This speed makes BrahMos one of the fastest cruise missiles in the world. It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft and land. INS Kolkata the country’s largest indigenously built warship was commissioned in Indian Navy on 16 August 2014.
India Successfully Test Fired N-capable Prithvi-II Missile
Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile was test-fired on 19 February at Chandipur, Odisha. The test-fired was part of a regular training exercise of Strategic Force Command of Defence (SFC) and monitored by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). Prithvi-II was developed indigenously which is nuclear-capable and has a strike range of 350 km. It is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads.