Indian Air Force placed two contracts with Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

Current Context: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has placed two contracts with Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL) for the indigenous Astra Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, which is designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

• The first batch of the missiles is expected to be inducted by the end of 2023. The Astra Mk-1 missile has a range of over 100 km and can engage and destroy highly manoeuvrable supersonic aerial targets.
• It is fully integrated on the Su-30MKI fighter aircraft and will be integrated with other fighter aircraft in the future, including the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) and the MiG-29K.
• The Astra Mk-1 missile is a major boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and will help reduce the dependency on foreign sources for air-to-air missiles.

Question:

Q.1 Which organization designed and developed the Astra BVR missile?
a. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
b. Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL)
c. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL)
d. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)