Mujraparty
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NEW DELHI: India is gearing up to test its first long-range cruise missile 'Nirbhay' (the fearless), which can carry nuclear warheads with a strike range of over 1,000 km, within a month or so.
A stealth missile long in the making, Nirbhay is meant to fulfill the armed forces' demand for nuclear-tipped land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs) versatile enough to be fired from land, air and sea.
Flaunted as India's answer to the famed American Tomahawk missiles as well as an effective counter to Pakistan's Babur LACM, Nirbhay was experimentally fired for the first time in March last year.
But the test went awry. "We had to abort the flight after a snag in one of the components made the missile deviate from its flight trajectory at a waypoint. The problem has now been resolved. The maiden test-firing did prove most of the required critical technologies," said a DRDO scientist.
"Preparations for the fresh test (from the Chandipur launch complex off Odisha coast) are more or less complete. Depending on the slot available, we will test Nirbhay around early-June,'' he added.
India already has the 290-km supersonic BrahMos cruise missile as well as the Agni series of nuclear-capable missiles with strike ranges varying from 700 km to over 5,000 km.
But while BrahMos is a short-range conventional weapon, not a nuclear one, the Agni missiles are ballistic ones that follow a parabolic trajectory. Cruise missiles like Nirbhay are designed to fly at low altitudes, virtually hugging the terrain, to evade enemy radars and missile defence systems. Cruise missiles are also much cheaper and easier to operate than ballistic missiles.
Nirbhay, after an initial blast off with a solid-propellant booster rocket engine to gain speed and altitude, deploys its smallish wings and tail fins in the second stage to fly like an aircraft thereafter.
The sub-sonic missile, which flies at a speed of 0.6-0.7 Mach, is said to be highly maneuverable with "loitering capabilities" to first identify and then hit the intended target. "In the test last year, Nirbhay's launch was perfect. The wings were deployed properly after the 'aircraft engine' took over following the separation of the booster motor from the main missile... the flight had stabilized," said another scientist.
"But we had to resort to the self-destruct mode after there was inertial navigation control failure and the missile began to drift towards the coast. Yes, the missile's turbo-fan is imported as of now but the indigenous engine is also getting ready," the scientist said.
Stage set for test of nuclear-capable cruise missile Nirbhay - The Times of India
A stealth missile long in the making, Nirbhay is meant to fulfill the armed forces' demand for nuclear-tipped land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs) versatile enough to be fired from land, air and sea.
Flaunted as India's answer to the famed American Tomahawk missiles as well as an effective counter to Pakistan's Babur LACM, Nirbhay was experimentally fired for the first time in March last year.
But the test went awry. "We had to abort the flight after a snag in one of the components made the missile deviate from its flight trajectory at a waypoint. The problem has now been resolved. The maiden test-firing did prove most of the required critical technologies," said a DRDO scientist.
"Preparations for the fresh test (from the Chandipur launch complex off Odisha coast) are more or less complete. Depending on the slot available, we will test Nirbhay around early-June,'' he added.
India already has the 290-km supersonic BrahMos cruise missile as well as the Agni series of nuclear-capable missiles with strike ranges varying from 700 km to over 5,000 km.
But while BrahMos is a short-range conventional weapon, not a nuclear one, the Agni missiles are ballistic ones that follow a parabolic trajectory. Cruise missiles like Nirbhay are designed to fly at low altitudes, virtually hugging the terrain, to evade enemy radars and missile defence systems. Cruise missiles are also much cheaper and easier to operate than ballistic missiles.
Nirbhay, after an initial blast off with a solid-propellant booster rocket engine to gain speed and altitude, deploys its smallish wings and tail fins in the second stage to fly like an aircraft thereafter.
The sub-sonic missile, which flies at a speed of 0.6-0.7 Mach, is said to be highly maneuverable with "loitering capabilities" to first identify and then hit the intended target. "In the test last year, Nirbhay's launch was perfect. The wings were deployed properly after the 'aircraft engine' took over following the separation of the booster motor from the main missile... the flight had stabilized," said another scientist.
"But we had to resort to the self-destruct mode after there was inertial navigation control failure and the missile began to drift towards the coast. Yes, the missile's turbo-fan is imported as of now but the indigenous engine is also getting ready," the scientist said.
Stage set for test of nuclear-capable cruise missile Nirbhay - The Times of India
