Indian Missiles - News, Developments, Tests, and Discussions

[RPK]

DRDO braces up for a series of tests

BALASORE: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which is planning a series of missile tests in the next few months has a host of challenges before it to fit into the defence requirements of the country in the light of the heightening tension in and around India.


Sources said, at least five different ranges and variants of missiles are likely to be tested by the defence scientists and Indian Army in the first quarter of the year. The missiles to be tested from the integrated test range (ITR) off the Orissa coast are India’s longest range Agni-III, Agni-II, an interceptor, Shourya (the land version of submarine launched ballistic missile K-15) and BrahMos.

While 2000 km plus range Agni-II missile is scheduled for trial between January 6 and 9, the 3500 km range Agni-III will be test-fired by this month end.

The three other missile tests will be conducted one after another to gauge their accuracy and performances, said a source at the ITR in Chandipur-on-sea.

Defence analysts feel the scientists have to come out credibly to hold high the reputation of DRDO and to fit into the shoes of eminent defence scientists like APJ Abdul Kalam. ‘’Challenges are many and it is yet to see how it comes over the failures of the preceding years. Success and failures although tread along, keeping in view the defence requirements of the country, people have got a zero tolerance level as far as failures of the DRDO is concerned,’’ they remarked.

‘’While BrahMos and Shourya will be test fired from the ITR at Chandipur from a silo launcher, the Agni variants will be tested from the Wheelers Island off Dhamra coast in Bhadrak district.

During the advanced air defence (AAD) interceptor test, a Prithvi missile, modified to mimic a hostile ballistic missile with a 300 km -1,000 km range, will be fired from the Chandipur base and will be intercepted by another missile fired few seconds later from Wheeler Island,” said a defence scientist.

Defence sources said, the 2000 km plus range Agni-II missile, which was first tested in 1999 has a length of 21 meters, a diameter of 1.3 meters and weighs 19 tonnes. Having South China as the main target, the missile is designed to carry a one-tonne weapon. The Agni-III has a range of over 3,000 km and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. ‘’India is now developing Agni-V having a strike range of 5000 km which will probably fly in the air early next year,’’ said a source.

Apart from its long range missiles, the DRDO is now focusing on the ballistic missile defence (BMD) system. As part of the project it has already developed two interceptors – exo-atmospheric (outside the atmosphere) and endo-atmospheric (within the atmosphere).

‘’While the exo-atmospheric PAD has been tested twice, the second test of the endo-atmospheric AAD interceptor will be conducted this time,’’ the source informed.

Similarly, the newly developed 600-km range ‘Shourya’ ballistic missile, which can be fired from underground silos unlike the Prithvi and Agni missiles will be tested for the second time.

It is meant to boost the country’s second strike capabilities.

Significantly, Shourya missiles can remain camouflaged in underground silos from enemy surveillance or satellites till they are fired from the special storage-cum-launch canisters.

 

[Ruag]

DRDO braces up for a series of tests

BALASORE: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which is planning a series of missile tests in the next few months has a host of challenges before it to fit into the defence requirements of the country in the light of the heightening tension in and around India.

Sources said, at least five different ranges and variants of missiles are likely to be tested by the defence scientists and Indian Army in the first quarter of the year. The missiles to be tested from the integrated test range (ITR) off the Orissa coast are India’s longest range Agni-III, Agni-II, an interceptor, Shourya (the land version of submarine launched ballistic missile K-15) and BrahMos.

While 2000 km plus range Agni-II missile is scheduled for trial between January 6 and 9, the 3500 km range Agni-III will be test-fired by this month end.

The three other missile tests will be conducted one after another to gauge their accuracy and performances, said a source at the ITR in Chandipur-on-sea.

Defence analysts feel the scientists have to come out credibly to hold high the reputation of DRDO and to fit into the shoes of eminent defence scientists like APJ Abdul Kalam. ‘’Challenges are many and it is yet to see how it comes over the failures of the preceding years. Success and failures although tread along, keeping in view the defence requirements of the country, people have got a zero tolerance level as far as failures of the DRDO is concerned,’’ they remarked.
‘’While BrahMos and Shourya will be test fired from the ITR at Chandipur from a silo launcher, the Agni variants will be tested from the Wheelers Island off Dhamra coast in Bhadrak district.

During the advanced air defence (AAD) interceptor test, a Prithvi missile, modified to mimic a hostile ballistic missile with a 300 km -1,000 km range, will be fired from the Chandipur base and will be intercepted by another missile fired few seconds later from Wheeler Island,” said a defence scientist.

Defence sources said, the 2000 km plus range Agni-II missile, which was first tested in 1999 has a length of 21 meters, a diameter of 1.3 meters and weighs 19 tonnes. Having South China as the main target, the missile is designed to carry a one-tonne weapon. The Agni-III has a range of over 3,000 km and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. ‘’India is now developing Agni-V having a strike range of 5000 km which will probably fly in the air early next year,’’ said a source.

Apart from its long range missiles, the DRDO is now focusing on the ballistic missile defence (BMD) system. As part of the project it has already developed two interceptors – exo-atmospheric (outside the atmosphere) and endo-atmospheric (within the atmosphere).
‘’While the exo-atmospheric PAD has been tested twice, the second test of the endo-atmospheric AAD interceptor will be conducted this time,’’ the source informed.

Similarly, the newly developed 600-km range ‘Shourya’ ballistic missile, which can be fired from underground silos unlike the Prithvi and Agni missiles will be tested for the second time.

It is meant to boost the country’s second strike capabilities.
Significantly, Shourya missiles can remain camouflaged in underground silos from enemy surveillance or satellites till they are fired from the special storage-cum-launch canisters.

DRDO braces up for a series of tests

 

[deckingraj]

Two Astra missiles successfully test fired

Achieving a new milestone, India on Monday successfully test-fired two indigenously developed air-to-air missiles ‘Astra’ in quick succession from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa.

The beyond visual range (BVR) missiles were test-fired from a ground launcher in the launch pad No. 2 of the ITR complex at about 9.45 am and 12.06 pm, defence sources said.

Describing both the trials as “successful”, they said the data of the flight test was being thoroughly analysed.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists said Astra was a futuristic missile and it could intercept targets at supersonic speeds between mach 1.2 to 1.4 (mach one is equivalent to 1236 kmph.)

“The tests on the missile’s navigation, control, air frame, propulsion and other sub—system have been validated,” they said.

The complex missile system would undergo some more trials before being made fully operational, they said.

The single stage, solid fuel ‘Astra’ missile “is more advanced in its category than the contemporary BVR missiles and it is capable of engaging and destroying highly manoeuvrable supersonic aerial targets,” defence sources said.

Though the exact range of today’s trial was not disclosed, scientists are working to ensure that ‘Astra’ performs effectively at different altitudes — one, cruising at an altitude of 15 km with 90 to 110 km range, another at an altitude up to 30,000 ft having a range of 44 km and the third, at sea level with a range of 30 km.

Astra had earlier been test-fired from the ITR at the ground level several times, the sources added.

The Hindu : News / National : Two Astra missiles successfully test fired

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Can't sleep due to jet lag but the news gave me much needed smile....

 

[mahmoodadeel]

Daily Express News Story

 

[deesu]

"The single stage, solid fuel ‘Astra’ missile “is more advanced in its category than the contemporary BVR missiles and it is capable of engaging and destroying highly manoeuvrable supersonic aerial targets,” "

What does this mean???

 

[brahmastra]

I got a question.
Astra got speed of mach 1.2 to 1.4. Is it enough to 'catch' high speed fighter planes?

 

[gogbot]

I got a question.
Astra got speed of mach 1.2 to 1.4. Is it enough to 'catch' high speed fighter planes?

you have to keep in mind the speed of the Plane firing the missile as well.

The recent tests i believe were ground tests where the Missile was fired from a stationary point. in this test it reached a speed of mach 1.4 on its way to trajectory

Put it on plane already traveling at High speed and then fire the missile.

Since it already has momentum and rapid acceleration. It will be able to close in on targets in is effective range.

The missile can fly at mach 4

But in most missions is likely to achieve a speed of mach 2.2 when fired depending on the aircraft's speed.

The missile has a strike range of 20-40 km

and maximum of 80km

how long does it take for a mach 2 missile to cover that distance

 

[brahmastra]

^^^ is it practical to always fly at high speed(> mach 2) to fire BVR missile.?

 

[gogbot]

^^^ is it practical to always fly at high speed(> mach 2) to fire BVR missile.?

of course not.
But the missiles range and sped can increase when you already do the work of braking thew sound barrier.

Just add up the numbers.

dude you know the missile can accelerate up to at least Mach 1.2 on its own.

Mach 1.2 = 408.34800 m / s

how fast does the plane normal travel at lets say mach 0.8. for one particular engagement

Mach 0.8 = 272.23200 m / s

that means when its fired its already traveling at 272.23200 m / s.
Momentum carrier over.

Now since the missile is already in motion it wont need that extra amount of thrust to get it into motion. So that just goes towards acceleration.

The missile will reach its maximum trust in a matter of seconds, and then continue to accelerate. Its really fast, you are underestimating the speeds that it is traveling at. it will shoot past mach 2 easily, even at that speed.

Now jet engines can never accelerate as fast a missile with solid fuel or ramjets. In a head on engagement they have no hope of running away.

In a tail chase then speed becomes a factor at its maximum range of 80 km.

That's why the strike range is 20-40 km for tail chase.

The missile can take speeds of greater than Mach 4.

Its a BVR missile capable of engaging jet fighter aircraft.
That's its basic role, If it cant even do that then why would the IAF even look at it.

You would not be asking these question's if it was made by the Americans would you ?

 

[Red Dwarf]

Correct if I'm wrong. Can these type of BVR missile do twist and turns when its near the target or when the target takes evasive actions.

 

[RPK]

Agni missile to get multiple warheads

Ajai Shukla / Hyderabad January 28, 2008

If the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is the heart of India’s nuclear deterrent, the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) in Hyderabad is its limbs and sinews.

The ASL Director, Avinash Chander, takes us through a spotless assembly room, where technicians are bolting sensitive instruments into the nose of a giant Agni-3 missile. It is eerie; before long, this very missile will roar off a launch pad on Wheeler’s Island in Orissa.

It will travel 350 km above the earth, re-enter the atmosphere at a speed of 5 kilometers per second, experiencing temperatures of 3000 degrees centigrade.

But the scientists here are cheerfully confident of repeating last April’s success, and proving the missile’s ability to deliver a one-and-a-half-ton nuclear bomb to within 100 metres of a target 3000 kilometers away.

And that is routine stuff, compared to what India’s Chief Controller of Missiles and Strategic Systems (CC-MSS), Dr VK Saraswat, has divulged to Business Standard.

He says that ASL is now working on new warhead technologies, which will equip the Agni-3 and all future missiles. The new warheads (usually nuclear bombs) will be capable of sneaking through enemy anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defences, fooling enemy radars and dodging enemy missiles.

The Agni’s new warheads, says the DRDO, will include five cutting-edge technologies:

They will be multiple warheads (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles, or MIRVs), with each missile delivering several warheads at the same, or even different, targets. Decoy warheads, which will be fired alongside the genuine warheads, so that enemy’s missiles are wasted in attacking decoys, rather than the real warheads. Manoeuvring warheads, which will weave through the atmosphere, dodging enemy missiles that are fired at it. Stealth technologies to make the warheads invisible to enemy radars. Changing warheads’ thermal signatures, to confuse the enemy’s infrared seekers.

The decision to go in for enhanced warhead capabilities stems from growing ABM capabilities with many countries, including India, which has already conducted two successful ABM tests in Nov 2006 and Dec 2007, and plans a comprehensive two-stage ABM test this June.

Dr Saraswat says, “As we are developing missile defences, other countries are also doing that. I’m sure our immediate adversaries will also try, or they will acquire, so our future missiles should counter the threat of interception by anti-missile defences.”

The DRDO is already working on the technologies for these new systems, even though government sanction has not been formally taken.

Dr Saraswat says that, “The government sanction for that is just coming, but practically you can say it is received, because we have been asked to go ahead and the work is already on.”

By 2015-2020, according to current planning, India’s missile force will consist mainly of Agni-3 and Agni-4 missiles, all of them equipped with new-generation warheads.

The 5000-km range Agni-4 is also referred to as the Agni-3+, because it is almost identical in technology to the Agni-3. Its extra range comes merely from reducing its weight by making its rockets from composite materials, rather than the maraging steel, which is presently used. The Agni-4 is slated for its first flight trials in 2009.

The failure of the first Agni-3 flight test in July 2006 is now a distant memory. Avinash Chander is confident that, after two successful tests this year, an army unit will be equipped by 2009 with operational Agni-3 missiles.

The officers and jawans will soon move to Hyderabad, and learn to prepare and launch the missile. The army already has two Agni units: one equipped with 700-km Agni-1 missiles, the other with the 2000-km Agni-2.

The new Agni-3 missiles will all be assembled here in ASL. Unlike every other weapon system, there is no series production line for Agni missiles. Instead, selected Indian partners manufacture individual parts of the missile, which are then integrated in ASL and handed over to the army. Avinash Chander points out that the missile is 100% indigenous, with most of it produced by private industry.

The ASL Director says, “Agni has funded industry to create that infrastructure, so that we get the best of products. We are funding seed capital where necessary, and the money is recovered from the supplies that are made. With infrastructure costs so high, and the production numbers being limited, we invest... and ask the industry to manage the product.”

(Indian) Agni missile to get multiple warheads

 

[RPK]

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : India’s latest strategic weapon



India’s latest strategic weapon




With the flawless flight of Agni-III on Wednesday, a powerful new weapon — and one that can be built upon in the years to come — is practically ready to enter India’s strategic arsenal. While Agni-I can reach places 700 km away and Agni-II can take its warhead some 2,000 km, the all-solid, two-stage Agni-III missile has a range of over 3,500 km. Thus, the new missile will give the country’s strategic forces the ability to strike well beyond the imme diate neighbourhood. Moreover, adding a small third stage to the Agni-III configuration would produce a missile with a range of 5,000 km or more. Given DRDO’s proven solid propulsion capabilities, this should pose no major problem. Indeed, senior officials of the Defence Research and Development Organisation have stated that design work on Agni-IV has begun. It is noteworthy that Agni-III and its future variants, with a diameter of two metres, will be the first Indian missiles having the potential to be equipped with Multiple Independently-Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV). A single missile with MIRV can carry several nuclear warheads, each of which can target a different place. However, unlike the addition of a third stage, creating MIRV capability could pose significant technological challenges, especially in terms of reducing the size and weight of the warheads.

Across the border, Pakistan has been repeatedly testing Shaheen-II, its missile with the longest range that can strike much of India. Last month, the missile was fired twice in a space of three days. China, meanwhile, is in the process of modernising its strategic forces and switching from liquid-fuelled ballistic missiles to solid-propellant ones that can be launched quickly. Its latest submarine-launched ballistic missile, the JL-2, and the land-based variant of the missile, the DF-31, could soon be operationally deployed. A study published last year by analysts at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore indicated that the JL-2/DF-31, with a diameter of two metres, was in fact a three-stage missile with MIRV capability. The missile’s three warheads might be arranged around a small third stage with a diameter of about one metre. They estimated that the missile in its MIRV configuration could have a range of about 8,000 km. With just a single warhead, the JL-2/DF-31’s range would increase to 12,000-14,000 km. Fortunately, all this activity on the missile front has not dampened overtures of friendship and efforts to reduce sources of tension between India and its nuclear-armed neighbours. Rather, it reflects a strategic mindset that seeks to augment military capability as a way of keeping the peace

 

[Red Dwarf]

Does this mean that the next Agni 3 test is meant for testing its Mirv feature ?.

 

[RPK]

What makes 5000 km range Agni-5 missile deadlier: Rediff.com India News

What makes 5000 km range Agni-5 missile deadlier

The Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) in Hyderabad, which develops India's [ Images ] strategic (long-range, nuclear-tipped) missiles, has dramatically increased the options for its forthcoming Agni-5 missile by making it highly road-mobile, or easily transportable by road.

That enables the Agni-5 to reach targets far beyond its stated 5,000-km range by quickly moving closer to the target. In a hypothetical war against, say, Sweden, an Agni-5 launcher, stationed near Bangalore, would be unable to strike Stockholm, 7,000 km away. But moving by road to Amritsar [ Images ] would bring Stockholm within range.

Similarly, moving the Agni-5 to northeast India would bring even Harbin, China's northernmost city, within striking range. From various places across India, the Agni-5 can reach every continent except North and South America.

The Agni-5 will be the first canisterised, road-mobile missile in India's arsenal, similar to the Dongfeng-31A that created ripples during China's National Day Military Parade in Beijing [ Images ] on October 1. India's current long-range missile, the Agni-3, a non-canisterised missile, can only be moved with difficulty from one place to another.

In many other respects, the Agni-5, which is scheduled to make its first flight in early-2011, carries forward the Agni-3 pedigree. With composites used extensively to reduce weight, and a third stage added on (the Agni-3 was a two-stage missile), the Agni-5 can fly 1,500 km further than the 3,500-km Agni-3.

"The Agni-5 is specially tailored for road-mobility," explains Avinash Chander, Director, ASL. "With the canister having been successfully developed, all India's future land-based strategic missiles will be canisterised as well".

Made of maraging steel, a canister must provide a hermitically sealed atmosphere that preserves the missile for years. During firing, the canister must absorb enormous stresses when a thrust of 300to 400 tonnes is generated to eject the 50-tonne missile.

Canister technology was first developed in India for the Brahmos cruise missile. But it was the K-15 underwater-launched missile, developed here in Hyderabad for India's nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant [ Images ], which fully overcame the technological hurdles in canisterising ballistic missiles.

Another major technological breakthrough that will beef up the Agni-5 is ASL's success in developing and testing MIRVs (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles). An MIRV, atop an Agni-5 missile, comprises three to 10 separate nuclear warheads. Each warhead can be assigned to a separate target, separated by hundreds of kilometres; alternatively, two or more warheads can be assigned to one target.

"We have made major progress on the MIRVs in the last two years," is all that Avinash Chander is willing to say on the subject.

Nevertheless, extensive testing still lies ahead for this highly complex technology. MIRVs will be deployed on the Agni-5 only after another 4-5 years.

While MIRV technology is similar to launching multiple satellites through a space rocket, a missile requires far greater accuracy. A satellite would be considered in correct orbit even it is a kilometre higher or lower than planned.

But each warhead in an MIRV must impact within 40 metres of its target. With such high accuracies, even small nuclear warheads are sufficient for the job.

Strategic planners consider MIRVs essential, given India's declared "no first use" nuclear policy. Even after an enemy has hit India with a full-fledged nuclear strike, destroying or incapacitating much of the strategic arsenal, a handful of surviving Indian missiles must be capable of retaliating with massive and unacceptable damage. Multiple warheads on a handful of Agni-5 missiles would constitute such a capability.

MIRVs also enable a single missile to overwhelm the enemy's missile defences. Tracking and shooting down multiple warheads are far more difficult than intercepting a single warhead.

Providing each warhead with the capability to maneuver, and dodge enemy interceptor missiles, increases survivability further. The MIRV warheads are also being given electronic packages for jamming enemy radars.

 

[RPK]