NEW DELHI: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Monday successfully flight tested third generation Fire & Forget Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM), which has a top attack capability against a moving target.A video released from a desert test range shows a successful missile firing during a weapons trial conducted in the KK Ranges at Ahilya Nagar in Maharashtra.The footage opened with a side-rear camera view of a two-member crew positioned behind a tripod-mounted launcher, which was already elevated and locked onto the target.Moments later, the missile was fired with a bright orange-white plume and a sharp muzzle flash as the rocket motor ignited.
It exited the launcher rapidly and climbed steeply, indicating a top-attack flight profile rather than a direct, flat trajectory. In the mid-flight phase, tracking footage showed the missile arcing high across the desert sky, leaving behind a thin smoke trail.In the terminal phase, captured by a separate impact camera, the missile descended almost vertically onto a designated target, believed to be an armoured vehicle or tank mock-up placed on the range.
The impact triggered a bright explosion, followed by a fireball, thick black smoke, and flying debris, demonstrating a precise strike on the target’s upper surface and a successful warhead detonation.
MPATGM, a shoulder-launched, portable missile system, is specifically designed to counter enemy tanks and armoured vehicles. Weighing approximately 14.5 kg, with an additional 14.25 kg for the command launch unit (CLU), the missile is a lightweight, cylindrical weapon featuring two sets of four radial fins. Its high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped charge warhead, combined with an operational range of 200 to 4,000 metres, makes it a formidable asset on the battlefield. The indigenously developed MPATGM consists of state-of-the-art indigenous technologies like Imaging Infrared (IIR) Homing Seeker, all electric Control Actuation System, Fire Control System, Tandem Warhead, propulsion system and high performance sighting system, which are developed by DRDO's sister laboratories.
Curated by Dr. Elena Rodriguez
