"Mission Shakti" (DRDO) is the name given by India to

Correct — C, Anti-Satellite Missile. Mission Shakti was the anti-satellite test conducted on 27 March 2019 from Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast. A three-stage interceptor derived from the ballistic missile defence programme struck a decommissioned Indian satellite in low earth orbit at an altitude of about 283 kilometres, using hit-to-kill kinetic energy rather than an explosive warhead. The low intercept altitude was chosen so that the debris would decay quickly. The test made India the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to demonstrate the capability.

• (a)Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile — India's long-range ballistic missiles belong to the Agni series, and none of them carries the name Mission Shakti. Shakti without the word mission refers instead to the Pokhran nuclear tests of May 1998.
• (b)Air-to-Air Missile — India's indigenous air-to-air missile is Astra, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation for the Su-30MKI and the Tejas. It is unrelated to the 2019 test.
• (d)Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarine — India's nuclear submarine programme runs under the Advanced Technology Vessel project, whose boats are the Arihant class. A submarine programme is not a missile test.

An anti-satellite weapon destroys or disables a satellite in orbit. A direct-ascent kinetic kill of the kind used in Mission Shakti sends an interceptor straight up to collide with the target, and no warhead is needed because the closing speed supplies the energy. The military value lies in the ability to blind an adversary's reconnaissance, navigation or communication satellites; the cost is orbital debris, which is why the intercept altitude matters so much.

The naming is the trap. India has used the word Shakti before, for the Pokhran-II nuclear tests of 1998, and there is also a Mission Shakti run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development for women's safety and empowerment. The stem heads off both by attributing this one to the Defence Research and Development Organisation. As of the 2024 examination India had conducted no second anti-satellite test, and the 2019 event remains the reference point.

• Mission Shakti was conducted on 27 March 2019 from Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha.
• The target was a decommissioned Indian satellite in low earth orbit at roughly 283 kilometres.
• The interceptor destroyed the target by kinetic impact, without an explosive warhead.
• India became the fourth country to demonstrate the capability, after the United States, Russia and China.
• The Defence Research and Development Organisation built the interceptor from its ballistic missile defence work.

• Reading Shakti as the 1998 nuclear tests, which were Operation Shakti.
• Confusing this with the Ministry of Women and Child Development scheme of the same name.
• Assuming an anti-satellite interceptor carries a nuclear or explosive warhead; the kill is kinetic.

A one-line identification of a named mission, where the distractors are other genuine Indian defence programmes.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  India's anti-satellite test of March 2019 destroyed its target satellite in

  • (a)Geostationary orbit
  • (b)Low earth orbit
  • (c)Medium earth orbit
  • (d)A heliocentric orbit

  Answer(b) Low earth orbit — the intercept was at about 283 kilometres, chosen so that debris would decay quickly.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is India's indigenously developed beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile?

  • (a)Astra
  • (b)Nag
  • (c)Nirbhay
  • (d)Prahaar

  Answer(a) Astra — Nag is anti-tank, Nirbhay a cruise missile and Prahaar a short-range tactical ballistic missile.