New Delhi, June 30: The Indian defence establishment today claimed success in twin strikes in the first test by an air defence missile made in collaboration with Israel.

This was the first test of the land-based version of the Barak 8 or Barak NG (next generation) made by Israel Aircraft industries.

Naval variants of the missile, called LRSAM (long range surface to air missile) were successfully tested in both Israel and India earlier this year. The INS Kolkata-class destroyers of the Indian Navy are to be armed with this missile.

The first strike by the missile launched from the Interim Test Range at Balasore on the Odisha coast this morning was on a drone around 8am. The missile was said to have intercepted the drone that simulated an adversarial target at 40km.

A second, low-altitude test was carried out around 3.45 in the afternoon.

"#MRSAM successfully test-fired for 2nd time at 1545hrs.It hit target in a different envelope at low altitude & met mission requirements #DRDO," the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) tweeted from its official, verified, handle on the micro-blogging site.

A DRDO source said the missile is guided by a radar system. It hit the pilotless target aircraft twice during the day. The land-based variant of the missile would arm the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army.

The IAF has projected a requirement of 70 systems. Each battery of the system comprises three launchers, each capable of launching four missiles.

The launchers are connected to a multi-function surveillance and threat alert (MF-STAR) radar that acquires the target and transmits the data to the missile. Unlike the naval variant of the missile that can be aimed directly at a target, the land-based variant has been armed with terrain-mapping features to avoid accidental collision, sources said.

The DRDO's collaboration with Israel for the missile has included Indian private and public sector companies. Both Indian and Israeli scientists witnessed today's test launches. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar congratulated the DRDO and the companies for the successful demonstration of the air defence capability, ministry sources said.

S. Christopher, secretary, department of defence research and development, and director-general, DRDO, declared the launch a major milestone for the IAF towards air defence. "The test launch was a grand success and it met all the targets," Christopher said.

He said a new production facility to deliver 100 missiles a year had been established in the public sector Bharat Dynamics Limited.