GUWAHATI: India’s latest indigenous warship, INS Surat, successfully intercepted a fast, low-flying target in the Arabian Sea this week using the Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) system.
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“#IndianNavy's latest indigenous guided missile destroyer #INSSurat successfully carried out a precision cooperative engagement of a sea skimming target marking another milestone in strengthening our defence capabilities,” The Indian Navy posted on social media platform X on Thursday, April 24.
The MRSAM system, developed jointly by India and Israel, is capable of intercepting threats up to 70 kilometres away and is tailored for countering sea-skimming missiles. The successful test under operational conditions demonstrated high precision and enhanced readiness for real-time scenarios.
The timing of the test is noteworthy, coming just hours after Pakistan issued a maritime advisory for a missile test in the Arabian Sea. It also follows a terrorist strike on Tuesday, 22 April, at Baisaran meadow in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam region. Twenty-six people, including twenty-five Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, lost their lives in one of the Valley’s deadliest attacks since Pulwama in 2019.
The Resistance Front (TRF), linked to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In response, the central government has intensified its military and diplomatic postures. On Wednesday, April 23, the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held a high-level meeting to review the security situation. The committee condemned the attack, took a series of retaliatory diplomatic measures against Pakistan, and expressed condolences to the victims’ families.