BALASORE: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in coordination with the Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel conducted a secret calibration exercise over Bay of Bengal on Wednesday. The air trial involved a Pilot-less Target Aircraft (PTA) Lakshya-I and fighter aircraft Mirage 2000.Sources at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the Odisha coast said as a part of the exercise a digital version of Lakshya-I, flown from the launching complex - II, was targeted by dummy weapons fired from the Mirage. “The PTA was flown at about 1.10 pm. Soon the fighter aircraft Mirage 2000 took off from the Kalaikunda Air Force base in West Bengal and successfully targeted the tow body suspended from the Lakshya,” a scientist involved with the mission told ‘The Express’. The exercise was conducted to test the target location and precision firing capability of pilots of Mirage 2000 fighter jets of the IAF. The exercise was tracked through radars. “The exercise which is also known as a target simulation test was aimed at gauging the killing precision and ascertaining the timing of attack by the fighter pilots,” he said. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Lakshya was, however, used as a support system providing the target for the IAF pilots. PTA is a subsonic re-usable aerial target system and is remote-controlled from the ground. Recently, two trials of Lakshya-II and three tests of Lakshya-I had been conducted with improved engines and other sub-systems developed by the DRDO to check the viability of the engines and duration enhancement.The State Government, meanwhile, has evinced interest to use PTA for Maoists operations. Scientists from the Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bengaluru, were present during the exercise.
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