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Which is India's first indigenously designed and developed long-range subsonic cruise missile?
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Answer: Option B — Nirbhay
Detailed Solution
Nirbhay (meaning "fearless") is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile designed and developed in India by the DRDO. It was developed mainly by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) in Bengaluru.
A cruise missile is a guided missile that flies within the Earth's atmosphere for most of its flight, at a nearly constant speed, much like an unmanned aircraft. It has wings and is powered by a jet engine. Unlike a ballistic missile, which follows a high, arching path, a cruise missile can fly at very low altitudes, hugging the ground or sea, which makes it hard for enemy radar to detect.
Features of Nirbhay:
- It has a range of about 1,000 kilometres or more.
- It is subsonic, flying at about 0.7 Mach (0.7 times the speed of sound).
- It can carry conventional or nuclear warheads.
- It is launched with a solid rocket booster, after which a turbofan or turbojet engine takes over for the cruise phase.
- It can fly at different altitudes, from about 100 metres to 4 kilometres, and can loiter (circle) around a target and manoeuvre to approach it.
Nirbhay's first test flight was in 2013 and its first fully successful test in 2014. Its technology has led to further projects, such as the Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM), tested with an Indian-made Manik turbofan engine in 2024, and the Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LRLACM).
Why not the other options?
- ✗BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile developed jointly by India and Russia, so it is not wholly indigenous; it is named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers.
- ✗Prithvi is a surface-to-surface ballistic missile, not a cruise missile.
- ✗Shaurya is a hypersonic surface-to-surface ballistic missile.
Quick tip
Remember: Nirbhay = India's first indigenous long-range subsonic cruise missile (about 1,000 km); BrahMos = supersonic cruise missile (India-Russia joint venture).
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Defence Technology & Missiles — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Defence Technology & Missiles, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's defence technology: the missiles developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and later, their types and ranges, DRDO, defence equipment such as aircraft, tanks, submarines and warships, and military exercises with other countries. Common questions ask what type a missile is (Prithvi is surface-to-surface, Akash is surface-to-air, and Nag is anti-tank), which missile was developed with Russia (BrahMos), and which countries take part in a joint exercise. Lists of exercises and newly inducted equipment change often, so check current affairs as well. Practise the defence technology and missiles questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.