Hon'ble Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt flagged off the indigenously developed and manufactured Astra Missiles for supply to the Indian Air Force. The missile was flagged off at Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Kanchanbagh Unit, Hyderabad in the presence of CMD, BDL, Commodore A Madhavarao (Retd), DGMSS Shri U Raja Babu and other senior officials from DRDO, Indian
Air Force and BDL. Astra is a Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile indigenously developed by DRDO and manufactured by BDL for the Indian Air Force. Astra Weapon System is best in its class weapon systems in the world in the category of Air-to-Air missiles. The missile has a range of 100 plus km. The flag off ceremony marks a significant achievement for BDL, positioning it
among select few companies globally with capability to manufacture state of the art Air-to-Air missiles. Hon'ble Raksha Rajya Mantri congratulated BDL for their efforts to realise the production of the indigenously developed missile, in line with the Government of India's Atmanirbhar policy. The Hon'ble RRM appreciated the contribution being made by BDL in enhancing defence exports of the country.