Test paves way for its induction into IAF, says Ministry of Defence

Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted a ‘release trial’ of 1,000 kg ‘long-range glide bomb (LRGB), Gaurav.

The tests were carried out over three days, from April 8-10, from an Indian Air Force fighter jet, the Sukhoi 30-MKI.“The weapon was integrated to multiple stations in different warhead configurations, with the land target on an island. The trials successfully demonstrated a range close to 100 km with pin-point accuracy,” the Ministry of Defence said.

The trials have paved the way for induction of the weapon into the IAF, the ministry said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a post on X complimented the DRDO, IAF and industry for the successful development trials of Gaurav. He said “the development of Gaurav will further enhance the capabilities of the armed forces to a great extent”.

The system has been realised with the support of development-cum-production partners – Adani Defence Systems and Technologies, Bharat Forge and various MSMEs.

Gaurav was first tested in August last year.

Once the bomb is launched from air, the glide bomb steers towards the target using highly accurate hybrid navigation scheme with a combination of GPS data.

Gaurav has been designed and developed indigenously by the Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad.