Andaman airspace closed for 3 hours for high-altitude weapon test, another one tomorrow

According to a senior official from the Union Territory, the airspace above the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was shut down for three hours on Friday morning for a high-altitude weapon test, as reported by news agency PTI. The Andaman airspace was closed from 7 am to 10 am for the test, and a similar restriction is scheduled for the same hours on Saturday.

“Like today, the airspace over and around Andaman and Nicobar Islands will be closed tomorrow for three hours (7 am to 10 am),” the official said.

The official added that the closure had been planned in advance. “We have already issued Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) on May 16,” the official added, “and instructed that no civilian aircraft will be allowed to fly over Andaman on May 23 and May 24,” he said.

The NOTAM mentioned that the restricted zone would cover an area with a maximum length of around 500 kilometers between 01:30 and 04:30 UTC (7 am to 10 am IST) on both days.

The official confirmed the success of Friday’s test. “We have successfully done a high-altitude weapon test today and tomorrow a similar test will be done. This is a routine practice here in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as we have done similar tests in the past also,” he said.

The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is the sole military command in India that incorporates all three branches of the armed forces—Army, Navy, and Air Force. The precise kind of weapon assessed during Friday’s high-altitude trial in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has not been revealed by defense officials. The last significant weapon test in the area took place in December 2022, when the Indian Air Force successfully launched an extended-range variant of the BrahMos Air-Launched missile.

As stated by the IAF at that time, the missile successfully accomplished its mission by “executing a precise strike on a ship target from a Su-30 MKI aircraft in the Bay of Bengal area.” The BrahMos missile is created by BrahMos Aerospace, a collaboration between India and Russia. It is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.