• India on Tuesday successfully test fired the short-range Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) from a test range along the coast of Odisha.

About:

• Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the QRSAM missile has a strike range of 25 km to 30 km and has a capability of engaging multiple targets. The sleek and highly mobile air defence system has been developed for the Indian Army.
• The indigenously developed QRSAM will replace the ‘Akash’ missile defence system which is on its way out due to technological obsolescence.
• A QRSAM is different from normal air defence system, as this is an all-weather, all-terrain missile with electronic counter measures against jamming by aircraft radars.
• The QRSAM, which has already been tested in the past, was test fired from a rotatable truck-based launch unit at Chandipur in Odisha’s Balasore district. According to sources, two missiles were tested from Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur.

Background:

• The missile was first tested on June 4, 2017 and this was followed by the second successful test on July 3.
• The test firing comes on a day when a dozen of Indian Air Force fighter jets blew up terror camps across the Line of Control in Pakistan. India launched an airstrike inside Pakistan territory early today in response to the Pulwama attack of February 14 that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans.
• The jets dropped 1,000 kg laser-guided bombs on terrorist camps in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Muzaffarabad, and Chakothi. India’