India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) hit an important milestone and demonstrated the first successful flight test of the Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket LRGR-120 on December 29, 2025, at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha. This upgrade gives the Pinaka system a range increase from 80 km to 120 km, which allows the Indian Army to achieve greater capability for deep-striking.

Test Highlights The new missile was fired from a current Pinaka launcher and completed its entire range of 120 km, flew through all phases of its planned in-flight maneuvers and struck its target with 'textbook accuracy'. The complete chain of flight events was tracked by surveilling instruments at the flight range which verified the Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket's high accuracy and compatibility with existing systems, meaning no new hardware needs to be developed. The Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket LRGR-120 was developed as a joint effort between the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) and the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) and is a potential game-changer for achieving precision-guided barrages.

Big boost for Defence The timing of these procurements is ideal, as the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the leadership of Rajnath Singh, approved Rs 79,000 crore worth of procurement approvals dating back to December 28 that include LRGR-120 ammunition for Pinaka multi-barrel launchers. Additionally, there are other areas of success including loitering munitions, low-level radars, drone detection systems, Tejas simulators, and leasing a high-altitude UAV, all of which have strengthened the Indian Army's artillery capabilities as well as its air defence systems.

It is significant to the overall capability of the Indian Army since it means that the Indian Army can create deadlier and smarter area saturation with the Pinaka system, which has evolved from an unguided rocket to a guided weapon system.