India's Astra BVRAAM Flight Firing This Year

[acetophenol]

Possibly I don't know much about NAG ATGM. It is too early to celebrate, remains to be seen if the fuel is stable under varying conditions and is able propel the missile adequately and reliably in the air. A successful ground test does not guarantee desired results in the air especially at altitudes where the air is much colder .

True. However the tech worked well with Nag. But astra is a different game!

 

[subincb]

True. However the tech worked well with Nag. But astra is a different game!

Many Propellants and mixtures were tried out before coming to the conclusion of the current one considering all the trade offs as per seminar given on AI-13

 

[The A-5]

Good one with that smokeless propellent.

The R-77 smokes a lot:



...and so does SD-10



US AIM-120 smokes a lot less.



I think Astra & Amraam are in the same league as far as smoke trial is concerned lol.

 

[kurup]

News from the last Dec tests .


The next in line is Astra, the air-to-air missile, whose development trials were completed in December 2012. On Saraswat’s insistence, the Astra of yore, which weighed 300 kg, has been totally reconfigured now. It is now a sleek and trim-looking missile, weighing under 170 kg and is about four metres long. It can travel at supersonic speed and intercept enemy aircraft and destroy it in head-on or tail-chase mode. Three successful flight trials of Astra in ground-to-air mode took place on December 21, 22 and 24, 2012. While two flight trials took place against an electronic target, in the third, Astra destroyed Lakshya, a pilotless target aircraft. These trials have paved the way for its test-launch from an aircraft in 2013.

“It is ready for air-to-air launch,” said S. Venugopal, Project Director, Astra, on December 24. A young team of DRDO engineers, aged between 25 and 35, was behind Astra’s three consecutive successes. They “struck a balance between the stability, controllability and agility of the missile, its vehicle dynamics, control algorithms and on-board technology”, Venugopal said.

 

[BlueDot_in_Space]

Sorry if a noob question. But what's the meaning of captive trials ??? @<u><a href="http://www.defence.pk/forums/member.php?u=13746" target="_blank">sancho</a></u>

Captive trial is when you carry the missile on an aircraft, but don't release it. Captive trials of astra have been done on su30 MKI (refer attached video). Astra loaded MKI flies different maneuvers, some with high G's, to test the the effects of maneuvers on the missile structure or to check the airworthiness of missile.