Video of recent launch, I'm guessing this was AD-2:
I had a feeling you would give us a good follow up. Thanks bud.
You're welcome! Here's also a nice write-up by Snehesh Alex Philip regarding the BMD program in general, in light of the recent tests:
Besides the interceptors, the critical element of BMD are its radars, initially procured from Israel in the mid-2000s and later developed by DRDO on its own with greater capability.
theprint.in
Of note is this bit about the upcoming Phase-III of the BMD program:
"The Phase III, which has been initiated by the DRDO, will see the development of two new interceptor missiles, which are internally called AD-AH and AD-AM.
They will take down hypersonic weapons, glide vehicles that can change trajectory mid-flight, making them highly unpredictable targets, and also the Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology that allows a single ballistic missile to carry several nuclear warheads, each capable of being released to strike completely different targets spread over a wide geographical area."
We have seen a hypersonic wind-tunnel model of the AD-AH (Anti-Hypersonic?) flight body before:
And this tender document image:
Along with some nice graphics (based on those model) made by various people on Twitter:
It's quite evidently meant to be a "anti-HGV" system, which at least nominally makes it similar in intent to Northrop Grumman's GPI (Glide Phase Interceptor) now being jointly developed by US & Japan...
Glide Phase Interceptor is designed to detect, track, control, and engage hypersonic threats in the glide phase of the missile’s flight.
www.northropgrumman.com
...we'll have to see if it'll end up being ship-launched just like the GPI is intended to be.
The AD-AM (Anti-MIRV?) on the other hand has never been seen publicly in any form, to the best of my knowledge. On the face of it, this is a similar capability as what is envisaged under the US MDA's Multi-Object Kill Vehicle (MOKV) program:
en.wikipedia.org
It serves to know that DRDO has had an ambition for this anti-MIRV capability for over a decade at this point, as this slide from that famous 2014 VK Saraswat presentation at IIT-Bombay shows:
The US is no longer pursuing the MOKV as a standalone capability but expects the NGI (Next-Generation Interceptor, replacement of current GBI) to have similar MKV/MOKV capabilities incorporated to tackle Russian/Chinese MIRVs.
With China having a mature & proven MIRV capability (and Pakistan also possessing a limited version of it), I think it's fair to say that AD-AM will be the culmination of whatever MKV-related R&D that we had been cooking for the last decade plus. If we put the AD-AM KV on a K4 SLBM-sized booster (like we did with the PDV Mk-2/XSV-1 ASAT), we get an interceptor that begins to approach the dimensions of the NGI/GBI, this could be necessary to tackle Chinese SLBMs, while a smaller Agni-1P booster should be sufficient for Pakistan's Ababeel or any possible medium-range MIRVed SLBM they could acquire in future (this is all assuming boost- or ascent-stage interception fails).
Do we know what target round was used to mimic MRBM characteristics?
Can't find anything official on that yet but from what I'm getting from some reliable sources, there were two new TGTs (target missiles) involved. AD-2 was going after something possibly derived from the Agni-1P while AD-1 was after something Pralay-derived.
But let's wait for the interception video...assuming they release it. They did for the Prithvi TGT during Phase-I development though, that was a boost/ascent-phase interception:
I also recall seeing a terminal-phase intercept video but can't find that now.
Also, I wonder how much deployment of these interceptors would upset the balance of power and render Pak strategic nuclear delivery systems (Shaheen-3/Ababeel) and overall capacity ineffective?
I would guess to a significant degree, but that much was already achieved by BMD Phase-I (AAD & PDV interceptors) in many ways, so it's nothing new.
The Phase-I, which to my understanding has been operationally deployed at least to protect Delhi, together with an extensive radar network consisting of older Green Pine/Swordfish & newer TERRA models and/or their indigenous equivalents. This Pakistani think-tank did a lot of OSINT work to identify these installations as of 2023, which is around the time series production of Phase-I interceptors had begun:
Phase-II is primarily aimed at tackling longer-ranged threats launched from the Chinese hinterland or from SSBNs. These longer ranges are mostly a non-factor for Pakistan due to geography. Yes, the AD-1 might represent a new-generation capability that brings improved seekers/kinematics that would be an upgrade over the current AAD 'Ashwin' interceptor but that's about it. Kinda like going from Patriot PAC-2 to PAC-3 MSE variant I suppose, but not a fundamentally new capability as far as Pakistan is concerned.
I'd guess the Phase-I operational deployment was the reason why Pakistanis were reportedly asking the Chinese to give them a semi-survivable deterrent (likely SSB-based, like Type-032 Qing):
In bilateral talks this year, Pakistan asked China for a nuclear second-strike capability in exchange for the Gwadar Port—a demand that was rebuffed by China
www.dropsitenews.com
Apparently that request was denied by the Chinese but we'll see how it goes. Things like the upcoming AD-AM (see my reply to
@Nilgiri above) will change the equation further in any case. But they will help India in attaining a higher degree of strategic defence against China, which appears to be the pacing goal.
I doubt Delhi will allow whatever is Pakistan's equation to be an obstacle for striving toward that goal, and they haven't been allowing that to be an obstacle for a long time at this point. So nothing new there.
