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India on Wednesday successfully flight-tested the Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket (LRGR) for a user-defined minimum range of 60 km, marking another step in the evolution of the indigenous precision-guided artillery system that the Army is expected to increasingly rely upon following the lessons of Operation Sindoor.
The successful trial, conducted by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, demonstrated the rocket’s ability to accurately engage targets at shorter operational ranges while retaining the precision expected of the guided weapon, the MoD said.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the rocket executed all planned in-flight manoeuvres before striking the designated target with “textbook precision”, following the predicted trajectory throughout the flight. All deployed range instrumentation tracked the rocket during the test.
The latest trial comes barely seven months after DRDO successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the Pinaka LRGR-120 on December 29, 2025, when the guided rocket demonstrated its maximum strike range of 120 km. Wednesday’s test validated the weapon’s effectiveness at its minimum operational range, expanding the Army’s engagement envelope across a range of battlefield scenarios.
Designed by DRDO’s Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in Pune in collaboration with the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), with support from Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI), the LRGR represents the next stage in the evolution of the Pinaka weapon system.
The rocket was launched from the Army’s existing in-service Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher, demonstrating that different variants of the Pinaka family can be fired from the same launcher without requiring modifications. The compatibility is expected to simplify logistics and improve operational flexibility for field formations.
The successful user-range validation assumes greater significance in the backdrop of Operation Sindoor in May 2025, which underscored the growing importance of precision stand-off weapons operating in concert with air power. Defence planners have since accelerated efforts to strengthen indigenous land-based precision-strike capabilities that can rapidly engage targets across the tactical battlefield while reducing dependence on imported systems.
The latest success further consolidates the expanding indigenous Pinaka family, which has emerged as one of India’s flagship artillery programmes and a key pillar of the country’s drive towards self-reliance in long-range battlefield firepower.
Team BharatShakti
