DefenceThursday, 29 January 2026·The Hindu / PIB
India extends Astra Mk-2 missile range beyond 200 km; key DRDO air-to-air upgrade for defence exams
DRDO’s Astra Mark 2 air-to-air missile has been extended beyond 200 km, making it a high-value defence and science-and-technology current affair.
Key highlights
Direct fact
In January 2026, India’s DRDO reported that the Astra Mark 2 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile had been extended to a range of more than 200 km, strengthening indigenous air combat capability.
Key specifics
- DRDO is the developer of the Astra series, India’s indigenous air-to-air missile programme.
- The Astra Mark 2 has a range beyond 200 km, a key number for MCQ-based defence questions.
- The missile belongs to the beyond-visual-range (BVR) category, used for long-distance aerial engagement.
- The January 2026 update places the system in the advanced indigenous weapons segment.
- For TNPSC, the likely question area is defence technology, DRDO projects, and missile range classification.
Exam lens
Question type: Defence technology match-the-following; DRDO, Astra Mark 2, BVR missile, 200+ km range. TNPSC one-liner: “Which indigenous missile system was reported in January 2026 to have crossed the 200 km range mark?”