"Enhanced version of PINAKA Rocket System, developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been successfully flight tested from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha today on 04 November 2020," the DRDO wrote on Twitter.
The military organization added that there were a total of six rockets launched.
"Enhanced version of PINAKA rocket would replace the existing Pinaka Mk-I rockets which are currently under production," the DRDO noted.
Enhanced version of PINAKA Rocket System, developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been successfully flight tested from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha today on 04 November 2020. pic.twitter.com/DcGkA9VXFg
— DRDO (@DRDO_India) November 4, 2020
A source in the organization told the Hindustan Times newspaper that the new missile was capable of hitting a target at a distance of 60 to 90 kilometers (37 to 56 miles).
"The enhanced Pinaka has been developed to counter the People’s Liberation Army threat in East Ladakh with the Chinese deploying large number of rocket regiments in support of artillery guns. The rocket regiments are central to Chinese war fighting for saturation bombardment of the targets. The enhanced Pinaka and guided Pinaka have both been cleared for deployment on the borders," the DRDO official said, as cited in the media outlet.
The absence of a marked border between China and India has been a source of tension for decades. The Line of Actual Control, a loose demarcation line that separates the territories, was created after the 1962 war as a compromise. Tensions over border disputes between the Asian giants in the Kashmir region came to a head in mid-June when a deadly brawl broke out between soldiers of both sides high up in the disputed Ladakh region.
India said that 20 of its soldiers died in the skirmish while an undisclosed number of Chinese soldiers are believed to have perished. That was the first time in nearly 60 years that border disputes between the two, which have effectively never been settled, have resulted in fatalities.
