The Extended Range Pinaka (Pinaka-ER) Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher System was successfully tested at Pokhran Range on Friday.

The system has been designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Armament Research and Development Establishment laboratory and Pune-based High Energy Materials Research Laboratory.

The Extended Range Pinaka is an upgraded version of the earlier Pinaka rockets that have been in service with the Indian Army since a decade.

The system has been designed in the light of emerging requirements with advanced technologies enhancing the range.

In June, the DRDO had successfully test-fired enhanced range versions of indigenously developed Pinaka rockets and 122mm Caliber rockets from a Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.

At the time, 25 enhanced Pinaka rockets were launched in quick succession against targets at different ranges on Thursday and Friday. All the mission objectives were met during the launches. The ministry of defence had in a statement that the enhanced range version of the Pinaka Rocket System can destroy targets at distances up to 45km.

News agency PTI had cited an official as saying that the development of the enhanced Pinaka system was taken up to achieve longer range performance. All the flight articles were tracked by various range instruments in order to check the accuracy of the rockets hitting the target.