(MENAFN- IANS) Hyderabad, July 18 (IANS) Minister of State (MoS) for Defence, Sanjay Seth, on Friday, commended the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists for playing a crucial role in building "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" through realisation of state-of-the-art weapon systems, the Ministry of Defence said in an official statement.

He exhorted the scientific community to continue strengthening the Armed Forces to face any challenges in the current scenario.

The Union Minister visited the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex at DRDO in Hyderabad.

During his two-day visit, Union Minister Seth reviewed the Missiles and Weapon Systems programme being pursued by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) of Missile Cluster Labs.

He visited various work centres of DRDL, including Astra Mk-I and Astra Mk-II, vertically-launched short-range surface-to-air missile and scramjet engine facilities, a Defence Ministry statement said.

He was briefed about the status of the projects by distinguished scientist and Director General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), U. Raja Babu and DRDL director G.A. Srinivasa Murthy.

The Union Minister also visited various critical work centres of RCI, where RCI director Anindya Biswas apprised him of the progress of the indigenous navigation/aviation systems, onboard computer division and imaging infra-red seeker facilities.

The Ministry of Defence in a press statement said, "Sanjay Seth also visited various critical work centres of RCI, where Director, RCI Anindya Biswas apprised him of the progress of the Indigenous Navigation/Aviation Systems, Onboard Computer Division & Imaging Infra-Red Seeker facilities."

Union Minister Seth's two-day visit to the DRDO complex culminated on a day when the country successfully carried out the test-firing of two of its key strategic assets -- the short-range ballistic missile Prithvi-II and the ballistic missile Agni-I.

The test-firing was carried out from the Integrated Test Range in Odisha's Chandipur.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the launches were conducted under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command as part of routine training and validation exercises.

Both missiles successfully met all operational objectives and technical parameters, the Ministry said in a statement.

The tests validated key capabilities, reaffirming the reliability and accuracy of India's nuclear-capable delivery systems, it added.

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