India to Buy Harpoon Block II Missiles

[SBD-3]

India will acquire 24 Harpoon Block II missiles to armour Jaguar strike aircraft, under a foreign military sales agreement signed with the US government.

Under the $170m deal, India will buy the missiles for the Indian Air Force's maritime strike squadron.

The subsonic, all-weather, over-the-horizon missile, which can be launched from surface ships, submarines and aircraft, is able to strike land-based targets and ships, according to The Economic Times.

 

[SBD-3]

September 8, 2010: India is buying 24 Harpoon (AGM-84D) anti-ship missiles, for $1.5 million each. These will be used on their Jaguar attack aircraft. The 546 kg/1,20 pound Harpoon has a 222 kg/487 pound warhead and a range of 220 kilometers. It approaches the target low, at about 860 kilometers an hour. GPS gets the missile to the general vicinity of the target, then radar takes over to identify and hit the target. The Harpoon has successful combat experience going back two decades. Most Chinese and Pakistani warships (corvettes and frigates) are small enough to be destroyed by one Harpoon, which is what the Indians are looking for. .

Two years ago, India selected a local firm (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) to upgrade the electronics in 68 of its Jaguar attack aircraft. The avionics upgrade (display attack ranging inertial navigation, or Darin-3, for short) will make these older (20-25 years) Jaguars competitive with more recent models. Many Indian Jaguars have already been updated to handle laser and other smart bombs. The Darin-3 upgrade for each aircraft will cost about $900,000.

The 11 ton Jaguar is a single seat jet that carries two 30mm cannon, and up to 4.5 tons of bombs and missiles. While capable of supersonic speed (1,500 kilometers an hour), most of the time it moves at a little over half that speed. Sorties average about 90 minutes each. India has found the two seat trainer versions useful for complex attack missions, where the second seat is occupied by a weapons systems operator.

The French-British design began as a jet trainer that could also do ground attack. Ultimately, Jaguar proved to be a very useful combat aircraft. India bought over 200 of them, building most of them in India under license. So far, 32 have been lost to accidents, but with upgrades, India expects to keep its Jaguars in service for another decade or more. India recently ended production of the Jaguar. Meanwhile, Britain is replacing its Jaguars with Eurofighters, an expensive proposition considering the low cost and high effectiveness of the old, but very reliable Jaguar, and equally old, and reliable Harpoon missiles.

 

[your fear]

good news well it will provide more power to iaf

 

[Asm]

Good news but cant we make these type of missiles in India

 

[SpArK]

Good news but cant we make these type of missiles in India

We can, untill then lets use the Harpoons.

 

[Urbanized Greyhound]

We can, untill then lets use the Harpoons.

sir, why cant we have a Russian equivalent for this...?

 

[SpArK]

sir, why cant we have a Russian equivalent for this...?

Why should all be Russian??.. lets diversify our arsenal.

Lets get more political mileage by sending the right signal that India is a very big potential defense market for the US.

 

[prototype]

just 24,it should b around 240

 

[Asm]

just 24,it should b around 240

Why we need 240
and btw it will cost around 1.7 billion dollars

 

[sudhir007]

India is buying 24 Harpoon (AGM-84D) anti-ship missiles, for $1.5 million each. These will be used on their Jaguar attack aircraft.

Under the $170m deal, India will buy the missiles for the Indian Air Force's maritime strike squadron.

I dnt understand if the missile is come at $1.5 million then why we r paying that much amt. i know the fms route we have to give around 3% extra. but it does not make that much of amt. ???

 

[geeknix]

Sometimes, an order request is just an order request. Sometimes, as seen in Singapore, it amounts to more than that. In September 2008, the US DSCA announced India’s official request to buy a package of 24 L-model Harpoon Block II ship-killing missiles, with added GPS guidance and littoral/ land attack capabilities, for up to $170 million.

India’s rival Pakistan is already arming its P-3 Orions with AGM-84Ls, so regional stability wasn’t an issue, but the exact match for India’s missiles remained a mystery for a while. The order seemed to presage a buy of P-8i Sea Control and Surveillance aircraft, and India did indeed end up choosing Boeing’s 737 derivative. In September 2010, however, reports indicated that the deal was really focused on India’s fleet of Jaguar IM strike aircraft. Now, in 2010, comes a request specifically aimed at India’s forthcoming P-8is...

Contracts & Key Events

Dec 21/10: The US DSCA announces [PDF] India’s formal request for up to 21 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II Missiles, 5 ATM-84L Block II Training Missiles, Captive Air Training Missiles, containers, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, and related U.S. Government and contractor support. The estimated cost is up to $200 million, and this request is very explicit about their use:

“India intends to use the missiles on its Indian Navy P-8I Neptune maritime patrol aircraft which will provide enhanced capabilities in effective defense of critical sea lines of communication. India has already purchased HARPOON Block II missiles for integration on the Indian Air Force Jaguar aircraft and will have no difficulty absorbing these weapons into its armed forces.”

The P-8i is known as the Poseidon in the USA – “Neptune” was the Roman name for the same Greek deity. The prime contractors will be The Boeing Company in St. Louis, MO, and Delex Systems Incorporated in Vienna, VA. Implementation of this proposed sale will require annual trips to India involving U.S. Government and contractor representatives for technical reviews, support, and oversight on for approximately 5 years. Details of a potential industrial offset agreement in connection with the proposed sale were not known when the DSCA made the announcement. See also Tehelka.

Sept 2/10: India’s Economic Times reports that India signed a deal with Boeing for 24 Harpoon Block II missiles in late July 2010, but says the missiles will equip its its Jaguar strike aircraft. The paper quotes Boeing defence, space and security’s India head Vivek Lall, who says that no agreement had been reached yet with regard to supplying the missile for P-8I. That will be a separate Foreign Military Sale case.

India is believed to possess about 10 Jaguar IM maritime strike variant fighters in No.6 Squadron, which have been upgraded over the years with IAI ELta’s EL/M-2032 radar and improved electronic defense systems. At present, the Jaguars are limited to carrying 1980s-vintage Sea Eagle missiles, and their land attack capabilities have not kept pace, either. Adding the Block II Harpoons, with their dual sea-land attack capabilities, will make the Jaguar IM fleet a potent maritime threat once again.

Sept 9/08: The US DSCA announces [PDF] India’s official request to buy 20 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles with GPS guidance and improved near-shore capabilities; 4 ATM-84L Harpoon Block II Exercise missiles; containers; training devices; spare and repair parts; supply/technical support; support equipment; personnel training and training equipment; technical data and publications; U.S. Government and contractor engineering and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics support.

The estimated cost is $170 million, and Boeing in St. Louis, MO would be the prime contractor. Surprisingly, there are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale, and implementation of this proposed sale will not require the long-term assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to India.

At the time, DID wrote:

“The AGM-84L is the air-launched version of the Harpoon, which immediately raises questions. That missile – and especially its GPS-capable version – is not currently integrated with any of the aircraft in India’s current inventory, which are Russian (MiG-21/27/29, SU-30MKI, TU-142M Bear), French (Mirage 2000, Jaguar), or British (Sea Harrier). India also has its own Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, and an air-launched version for their large SU-30MKI fighters and TU-95 maritime patrol aircraft is currently in development and testing.

A Harpoon buy appears to make little sense. On the other hand, Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon aircraft could carry them without requiring an expensive integration project, something that is not true for India’s existing Russian and French missiles. Which adds fuel to the rumors that a $2 billion deal for the 737-derived P-8A long-range maritime patrol aircraft is close.”

India did end up ordering the P-8i, but subsequent reports indicate that the missiles are meant to improve the strike capabilities of India’s Franco-British Jaguar fighters instead.

link:India Requests Harpoon II Missiles