Govt to close down Trishul programme

Government has decided to close down the country's Trishul anti-missile programme due to consistent failure in guidance and control systems, officials said here today.

The closure to be enforced from December would come after 19 years of attempts to master the art of incoming missile interception. The project is estimated to have cost over Rs 250 crore.

"Government intends to close down the programme by December," officials told PTI about the programme, in which over 200 scientists had toiled, as they said the missile was "consistently having problems on guidance and control systems".

Though the missile, on its revival post 2003-2006 had 15 successful flight tests out of 20, the closure is being done in view of a strategic agreement signed with Israel to develop the next generation of Barak anti-missile system in joint collaboration.

Though the missile was conceived in 1983 after the Falkland war in which sea-skimming missile like French Exocet wrought havoc, the work on the project only started in 1987.