India joins Ballistic Missile Defence Club

[indiatech]

India crash lands into world's super sonic missile club

BrahMos missile test fails after early 'success'


21 Jan 2009, 0000 hrs IST, Rajat Pandit, TNN



NEW DELHI: The Army's endeavour to induct the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile as "a precision-strike weapon" took a hit on Tuesday, with the
missile failing to achieve laid-down parameters in a test.

This comes at a time when the Pakistan Army is galloping ahead in inducting its nuclear-capable Babur land-attack cruise missile (LACM) - developed with China's help to have a strike range of over 500 km - in large numbers into its arsenal.

Initially, the BrahMos LACM test from the Pokhran field firing range at 10.23am on Tuesday was touted as "successful" by defence ministry officials. But later in the day, this newspaper learnt that it had been quite unsuccessful.

Top defence officials were, however, still reluctant to dub the test, which was witnessed by Army chief General Deepak Kapoor, as "a complete failure".

"BrahMos is a unique missile, which has been tested flawlessly almost 20 times till now. On Tuesday, we were test-firing it with a new guidance scheme...it was not successful. Further trials are required," said an official, reluctant to say anything more.

Sources said it was likely that the BrahMos missile, which flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach, tested on Tuesday had been configured to carry a nuclear warhead rather than a conventional one.

The Army already has missile groups to handle the 150-km Prithvi, 700-800-km Agni-I and 2000-km-plus Agni-II ballistic missiles, which are nuclear-capable.

On its part, Army has ordered two BrahMos regiments in the first phase at a cost of Rs 8,352 crore, with 134 missiles, 10 road-mobile autonomous launchers on 12x12 Tatra vehicles, four mobile command posts and the like, said sources.

The Navy, in turn, has ordered 49 BrahMos firing units at a cost of Rs 711 crore for now. All the tests of the BrahMos naval version, both anti-ship and land-attack ones, have been successful till now.

BrahMos was even fired successfully from a vertical launcher - the earlier tests were from "inclined" launchers - fitted on Rajput-class destroyer INS Ranvir in Bay of Bengal last month.

The "universal vertical launcher" is significant since it imparts the missile system with some stealth as well as the capability to be fired in any direction. It also paves the way for the integration of BrahMos missiles on submarines.

Even as India and Russia begin preliminary work on a "hypersonic" BrahMos-2 missile capable of flying at a speed between 5 and 7 Mach, two Indian Sukhoi-30MKI fighters have also been sent to Russia for integration with BrahMos' air-launched version.

The armed forces' eventual plan, of course, is to have nuclear-tipped LACMs, with strike ranges in excess of 1,500 km. Unlike ballistic missiles, cruise missiles do not leave the atmosphere and are powered and guided throughout their flight path.

Cruise missiles, which can evade enemy radars and air defence systems since they fly at low altitudes, are also much cheaper as well as more accurate and easier to operate.


BrahMos missile test fails after early 'success'-India-The Times of India

Janab? what is there to laugh at? haven't heard of missile failures? 1 test has failed in 20. Any example of such a good track recore of any other missiles known to you? If it was somehow a success , it would have been a real nightmare for some. And some people somewhere would certainly have had sleepless nights for unknown reasons . Meanwhile the new upgraded guidence mechanism has failed.

 

[nitesh]

http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/12F04BB60D8739106525754700257B71?OpenDocument

DRDO schedules another missile defence test next month

New Delhi, Jan 23 (PTI) Aiming to get a shield against missile over its skies, India will conduct another test of its Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) next month.
"Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will conduct the test of its interceptor missile and missile tracking radars next month for validating the advancements made in the Air Defence programme," Defence Ministry sources told PTI here today.

Though the interceptor missiles, namely Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) and Advanced Air Defence (AAD), have been tested earlier, the main aim of the next month's test would be to validate the capabilities of the indigenously developed 'Swordfish' Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR).

Swordfish is a target acquisition and fire control radar for the BMD system.

"The missile to be hit will be fired from a longer distance than it was in the earlier test. DRDO will test whether the radar can track the incoming missile from that distance or not," they said.

In next month's test, the exo-atmospheric interceptor missile PAD will hit its target in space at an altitude over 80 km from earth, sources said.

They said the premier defence research agency will carry out another test around the year end to enhance the capabilities of AAD endo-atmospheric missile, which is used for intercepting missiles at altitudes up to 15 km.

Sources said if the tests prove successful, the DRDO will go ahead with the deployment of the BMD by 2015. PTI

 

[LCA]

What about the combined test of AAD and PAD?

 

[nitesh]

LCA as per the previous reports it is supposed to be a combined test but the major parameter is how to track the incoming missile. So that it can be determined that it can direct the missile properly or not. If the missile get destroyed in exo then good other wise endo will kick in.

 

[nitesh]

DRDO schedules another missile defence test next month

DRDO to test missile defence in Feb

New Delhi, Jan 23: Aiming to get a shield against missile over its skies, India will conduct another test of its Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) next month.

"Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will conduct the test of its interceptor missile and missile tracking radars next month for validating the advancements made in the Air Defence programme," Defence Ministry sources told reporters here today.

Though the interceptor missiles, namely Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) and Advanced Air Defence (AAD), have been tested earlier, the main aim of the next month's test would be to validate the capabilities of the indigenously developed 'Swordfish' Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR).

Swordfish is a target acquisition and fire control radar for the BMD system.

"The missile to be hit will be fired from a longer distance than it was in the earlier test. DRDO will test whether the radar can track the incoming missile from that distance or not," they said.

In next month's test, the exo-atmospheric interceptor missile PAD will hit its target in space at an altitude over 80 km from earth, sources said.

They said the premier defence research agency will carry out another test around the year end to enhance the capabilities of AAD endo-atmospheric missile, which is used for intercepting missiles at altitudes up to 15 km.

Sources said if the tests prove successful, the DRDO will go ahead with the deployment of the BMD by 2015.

When contacted, DRDO Air Defence programme Director V K Saraswat said that the AD programme was at a "fairly advanced stage" now.

"The building blocks of BMD such as the surveillance, tracking and battlefield management systems have been developed," he said.

Saraswat said the DRDO has developed a very robust command and control system for the AD programme, which can "survive and deliver" in any environment.

"Our command, control and communication system can work in a networked form and survive and deliver even in a high electronic warfare (EW) environment," he said.

He said India was always open for cooperation developing technologies for the programme with friendly foreign countries, but said the country would "not buy" any ready-made BMD systems from any country.

"We have done some thinking on cooperation with countries such as Russia, United States and Israel in this programme and we have taken their help also in developing some of the technologies such as the 'Swordfish' radar for the BMD with Israel but we will not buy anything ready-made from outside," Saraswat said.

DRDO's BMD programme has a two-tiered system consisting of two interceptor missiles, PAD for high altitude interception and AAD for lower altitude interception.

PAD was tested in November 2006, followed by AAD in December 2007. With the test of the PAD missile, India became the fourth country to have successfully developed an Anti-Ballistic missile system, after United States, Russia and Israel.

Bureau Report

 

[Contrarian]

The LRTR of the ABM system is derived from the Greenpine.

 

[macintosh]

Missile Defense: Swordfish Long Range Tracking RADAR (LRTR) to be Tested in February 2009




Dated 23/1/2009

The Indian missile defense programme has been steadily progressing over the last 24 months with two Interceptor missiles Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) and Advanced Air Defence (AAD) already tested successfully.

Press Trust of India now reports that the Long Range Tracking Radar 'Swordfish' will also be tested in the coming weeks by DRDO. Below mentioned are the main points from that report and other references:

-- Interceptor missiles Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) and Advanced Air Defence (AAD) have been tested successfully

-- Main aim of the February 2009 test is to validate the capabilities of the indigenously developed 'Swordfish' Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR). "The missile to be hit will be fired from a longer distance than it was in the earlier test. DRDO will test whether the radar can track the incoming missile from that distance or not" sources told the news agency.

-- Swordfish is a target acquisition and fire control radar for the BMD system

-- Exo-atmospheric interceptor missile PAD will hit its target in space at an altitude over 80 km from earth

-- More tests by year end to enhance the capabilities of AAD endo-atmospheric missile to intercept missiles at altitudes up to 15 km

-- If all tests are successful and no issues crop up, then the tentative date for deployment is 2015

 

[nitesh]

Air defence drill in Feb

Air defence drill in Feb


Express News Service
First Published : 24 Jan 2009 09:25:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 24 Jan 2009 02:37:35 PM IST

BALASORE: The Indian defence scientists are preparing for a crucial air defence exercise involving country’s one of the sophisticated interceptor ballistic missiles, next month. The exercise will feature two missiles - a target and another interceptor.

For the first time the target missile will be fired from a ship in the Bay of Bengal and the interceptor, which will be fired from the Wheelers Island, located off the Orissa coast, would kill the target outside the atmosphere.

Concerned about the threats emerging from Pakistan in the wake of the November terror attack in Mumbai and the predominant position of China, the defence scientists, who are upset over the recent failure of the cruise missile BrahMos’s user trial at Pokhran, are leaving no stone unturned for the interceptor’s successful launch.

‘‘The threats from the sea have become a major concern for the country. So now our focus is on the interceptors.

The exercise is aimed to boost the country’s air defence systems and provide the country an air defence shield,’’ said a defence scientist.

India has already conducted tests of both the versions - ‘exo-atmospheric (outside the atmosphere) and endo-atmospheric (within the atmosphere) - of the interceptor ballistic missiles in the past. ‘‘During the earlier exo-atmospheric test the interceptor had killed an incoming missile at an altitude of around 50 km. This time an attempt would be made to destroy a long range missile at an altitude of nearly 80 km. The enemy missile will be a modified version of Dhanush,’’ said a source in the integrated test range (ITR) at Chandipur.

‘‘Though the exercise was planned to be conducted in December last it was deferred due to delay in allotment of a ship,’’ the source informed.

‘‘The exo-atmospheric missile, which has been renamed ‘Pradyumna’ has a killing probability of above 99 percent. It can also carry a warhead of about 25 kg. After two or three tests it would be ready for deployment by 2011,’’ said the scientist.

 

[nitesh]

defence.professionals | defpro.com
France to develop SR-SAM with India

16:11 GMT, January 20, 2009 WASHINGTON | France wants to develop a new short-range surface-to-air missile (SR-SAM) in cooperation with India. Negotiations are nearing conclusion, according to Jean-David Levitte, Diplomatic Adviser to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

This new system may be the Maitri, which may incorporate technology from India's Trishul SAM and MBDA's MICA.

India' state-run Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) released a global RFP for co-development of SR-SAM system. Levitte said the process to secure a foreign partner is underway.

India recently announced orders for the Akash, another indigenously designed missile, and the Israeli-built SPYDER.

 

[nitesh]

Brahmos-2 to be inducted in five years - Worldnews.com
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An improved version of the Brahmos missile — the hypersonic Brahmos version-2 cruise missile — is in the process of development and will be ready for induction in the army in the next five years, a top defence official said here on Sunday. “Brahmos, produced by Brahmos...

 

[nitesh]

The Space Review: India’s missile defense: changing the nature of the Indo-Pakistani conflict

India’s missile defense: changing the nature of the Indo-Pakistani conflict
by Taylor Dinerman
Monday, January 26, 2009


During a panel talk at New York’s Asia Society on January 21, Professor Ashutosh Varshney of Brown University claimed that some “right wing” forces in the US and India were interested in seeing Pakistan break up and that they imagined that somehow India would be able to “neuter the nukes” and prevent them from getting into unfriendly hands, something he considered highly risky and likely to lead to catastrophe. During the same event former Pakistani diplomat Munir Akram claimed that any war between India and Pakistan would escalate uncontrollably and go nuclear quite quickly.

At this moment, they are both right. The India-Pakistan nuclear stand-off is stalemated to Pakistan’s advantage, in that they can launch (or allow) terror attacks such as the November 2008 one on Mumbai and India can do essentially nothing in response. The unmistakable smugness of the former Pakistani diplomat made this evident. However, this situation will not last forever. India is now seeking way to neutralize the majority of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and within a decade or perhaps a little longer they may come up with a solution.

In 2006 India began testing a missile defense version of its Prithvi medium-range ballistic missile. This test is just one sign that New Delhi is seeking to develop a multi-layer complex that can defend against Pakistan’s nuclear missiles. Due to its liquid-fueled first stage, the Prithvi Air Defense (PAD) is certainly not an ideal system, but it is both available and locally made. The Indian military is comfortable enough with this weapon’s effectiveness to make it their main battlefield ballistic missile for both conventional and nuclear applications.

Even if they give missile defense a big budget and a high priority, it will be many years before India has a moderately effective, indigenous missile defense shield. The claim last year by the head of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) that they will have a multi-layered system ready in 2010 is taken with a grain of salt by observers both inside and outside the subcontinent. However, unless the geopolitical situation radically changes, there is no doubt that India will continue work on the systems for the foreseeable future.

If they wanted to they could buy systems from the US, Israel, or Russia, and they have already bought themselves a pair of Israeli Green Pine radars originally designed for the Arrow ABM system. If they were ready to spend the money they could combine, for example, the US PAC 3 version of the Patriot with the Israeli Arrow and have an effective but limited defense system within a fairly short time frame. While the US may have blocked India from buying the Israeli system in the past, this no longer would be the case.

What is more likely, though, is that they will continue to build up their own technology while procuring a few items from overseas and entering into collaborative development programs with carefully selected foreign firms. The hard part may not be the interceptors themselves but building up the network of sensors and command and control systems needed to make the whole thing credible.

One requirement will be for some sort of space based early warning system to supplement the powerful long-range radars they will have to deploy both in the air and in the western Himalaya mountains. India is lucky in that it does have a few good places where it could place radars that, if they were powerful enough, could cover most of the possible launch sites. But they will still need satellites to cover the whole of Pakistan and to provide a secure and unambiguous warning of a launch event.

India could, if they wanted to, gain access to the US DSP (Defense Support Program) and SBIRS (Space Based Infra Red System) information the same way that NATO, Israel, Japan, and South Korea all have this data available to one degree or another. However, given the history of the subcontinent, and the shaky basis on which the new US-India relationship rests, the government may not be willing to put its trust in Washington’s goodwill.

They may choose to build their own heat detecting satellites. The IRS (Indian Remote Sensing) and Cartosat series of remote sensing spacecraft have given India some of the expertise required to build an equivalent of the DSP. Such a system does not have to be as heavy or as sophisticated as the US one; it could, in fact, consist of a larger number of small satellites in low Earth orbit. This would certainly be expensive by Indian standards and would take at least as long to develop and deploy as the indigenous interceptor missiles themselves.

Another factor that will add to the expense of this project is the fact that India is a big country and will need a fairly large number of long-range and short-range BMD missiles. The better that they can do in the boost phase the better off they will be, but there are few signs that they, or anyone else except the US, are seriously looking at this capability.

As long as India vigorously pursues this capability it will put Pakistan into the same kind of dilemma that faced the Soviet Union after President Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program in March 1983. Islamabad has neither the resources nor the technology to compete with India in this field. Indian missile defense will not, by itself, prevent a Pakistani “loose nuke” situation, but it will reduce the value of their atomic stockpile.

They also lack the resources to build up a very large and diverse force of reliable, sophisticated, nuclear-tipped missiles that could overwhelm an effective Indian defense system. If they tried to build such a force they would either have to weaken their already limited conventional defense forces or spend themselves into economic oblivion. India’s robust and growing economy is a strategic asset that is slowly but surely making itself felt in the military balance between the two subcontinental rivals.

 

[LCA]

Hypersonic reusable missile next: Pillai

Special Correspondent

It will attack the target and return to base, he says

VISAKHAPATNAM: After successfully testing and absorbing into the defence system the world leader — 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile — India is all set to develop a more advanced hypersonic reusable missile, which will go to target, deliver the warhead (attack the target) and return to the base.

"We are studying the project and the missile system, when developed, could cruise to the enemy's target at a maximum speed of mach-4," said A. Sivathanu Pillai, BrahMos Aerospace Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. He was addressing students of the Andhra University College of Engineering on "Indian Aerospace Programme - present and future." Mach is the speed of sound and one Mach is approximately 1,238 km per hour at sea level (the speed of sound depends upon the atmosphere through which it travels).

While BrahMos is the supersonic cruise missile, which travels at 2.8-3 Mach, the new missile may travel at 4 Mach, which is why it is called hypersonic.

Dr. Pillai said there were plans to develop hyper planes for defence forces, which could travel four times faster than sound.

Prithvi missile

Referring to advances in the rocket and missile system, thanks to the efforts of Indian space scientists, Dr. Pillai said the Prithvi missile was the first in the world which had a manoeuvrable trajectory and could be made to hit the target precisely, avoiding all the defensive mechanisms deployed by the enemy.

The Nag missile was a "fire and forget" weapon which the operator need not keep guiding. He could be sure that the target would be destroyed.

On the mission to the moon, Dr. Pillai said everything was going in the right direction.

 

[binzaman]

Hypersonic reusable missile next: Pillai

Special Correspondent

It will attack the target and return to base, he says

VISAKHAPATNAM: After successfully testing and absorbing into the defence system the world leader — 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile — India is all set to develop a more advanced hypersonic reusable missile, which will go to target, deliver the warhead (attack the target) and return to the base.

"We are studying the project and the missile system, when developed, could cruise to the enemy's target at a maximum speed of mach-4," said A. Sivathanu Pillai, BrahMos Aerospace Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. He was addressing students of the Andhra University College of Engineering on "Indian Aerospace Programme - present and future." Mach is the speed of sound and one Mach is approximately 1,238 km per hour at sea level (the speed of sound depends upon the atmosphere through which it travels).

While BrahMos is the supersonic cruise missile, which travels at 2.8-3 Mach, the new missile may travel at 4 Mach, which is why it is called hypersonic.

Dr. Pillai said there were plans to develop hyper planes for defence forces, which could travel four times faster than sound.

Prithvi missile

Referring to advances in the rocket and missile system, thanks to the efforts of Indian space scientists, Dr. Pillai said the Prithvi missile was the first in the world which had a manoeuvrable trajectory and could be made to hit the target precisely, avoiding all the defensive mechanisms deployed by the enemy.

The Nag missile was a "fire and forget" weapon which the operator need not keep guiding. He could be sure that the target would be destroyed.

On the mission to the moon, Dr. Pillai said everything was going in the right direction.

Have they conducted the PAD's tests?

 

[LCA]

It will be on feb.

Air defence drill in February

 

[nitesh]

no it is already tested this time it will be maily testing for LRTR capability to completely track and guide the missile:

PIB Press Release
Dr. VK Saraswat and his team achieved a unique milestone in the development of Area Defence System against ballistic missile attack on vulnerable areas by successfully intercepting an incoming missile with ballistic trajectory using interceptor PAD missile at exo-layer.