of doing it if the need arisesin this context scientists explained to toi that these capabilities are also seen to add to the countrys abilities to tackle highaltitude incoming missiles india had a long bmd programme with multiple missiles already in its arsenalbut as of today those missiles cannot intercept a target that is at such altitude the asat in that sense is a game changer that can help our forces tackle incoming missiles at a greater height which serves as a huge advantage one of them said300 on mission mode pokhranlike secrecyreddy while conceding that the work on bmd has been ongoing for years said the project only got the official go ahead about two years ago and we got into mission mode only six months agohe said that 300 drdo scientists and staff worked on the project day and night in the past six months and yet it was kept under the lidseven as of yesterday tuesday evening not more than fivesix people knew about the test today wednesday he saidthe last time india carried out a secret test was in may 1998 when the country tested its armed nuclear capabilities in pokhran incidentally it is that test that laid the foundation for indias ballistic missile programme which is today pegged as one of the best in the worldindias achievement comes a good 12 years after china and was demonstrated only in the 300km altitude range which is much lesser than what china did on a specific question on range reddy said even as of today we have the ability to hit something 1000km away