India Indian Ballistic Missile Programs

[guest12]

MOD NOTE:

Indian Ballistic missiles such as:

Surface to Surface:

- Agni Series
- Prithvi Series
- Shaurya (and other hybrid ballistic missiles)
- Any other new and upcoming programs


Underwater to Surface (i.e SLBM)

- K-15 (Sagarika) Series
- K-4 series
- Future K-series

and their underlying RnD and all subsequent developments to be gathered, discussed and archived here.

===============================================

I would love to see a thread dedicated to Indian ballistic missiles.

 

[Nilgiri]

Thread to compile past, present and future Indian ballistic missiles, programs and news.

@Gautam @Zapper @SHOX et al. please populate thread when possible.

 

[Nilgiri]

Night user trial of 'Prithvi-II' missile successfully test fired from ITR

Balasore, Sep 23 (UNI) The night user trial of nuclear-capable medium range surface to surface missile ''''Prithvi-II'''' was successfully test fired Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur on sea, on the Odisha Coast tonight.

www.uniindia.com

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1308773774091669504

 

[Gautam]

@Nilgiri @Paro et al.....

A tender is out calling for the development of a 140 ton chassis missile launcher likely for the newest member of the Agni family.

It will be significantly bigger than the Agni V. The Agni V itself is no small thing :

Agni V is a 50 ton missile with ~8, 000 km range. The new one, probably named Agni VI will be 70 tons with range around 12, 000 km. Like the Agni V, the new missile will also be fired from a cannister. The cannister design has been out for a year :

Look at the size: 20 m in length and 3.2 m in diameter. The Agni V, for comparison, is 17.5 m in length and 2 m in diameter. The new ICBM is longer & fatter than Agni V. The larger diameter will allow packing in MIRVs & decoys. We might even see some Hypersonic Glide Vehicles in the future, work is ongoing there.

2 years back this photo of a tractor of Transporter Erector Launcher(TEL) came up. It was under going trials in an Army artillery range at that time. The wheel arrangement is pretty unique and unlike anything I've seen before. My personal take is that this was made in a DRDO-Indian auto-industry collaboration. You can see the DRDO logo on the cabin door. Then it suddenly disappeared, don't know what happened to it after that. Maybe this truck was meant to carry the new ICBM, or maybe its just a prototype. It looks a little too small to carry that missile.

It makes sense in a way. The truck is ready, the cannister is ready, the missile is ready for flight tests I suppose. The only thing missing is the erector and launcher.

 

[Paro]

@Nilgiri @Paro et al.....

A tender is out calling for the development of a 140 ton chassis missile launcher likely for the newest member of the Agni family. View attachment 2055

It will be significantly bigger than the Agni V. The Agni V itself is no small thing :
View attachment 2057
View attachment 2058

Agni V is a 50 ton missile with ~8, 000 km range. The new one, probably named Agni VI will be 70 tons with range around 12, 000 km. Like the Agni V, the new missile will also be fired from a cannister. The cannister design has been out for a year :
View attachment 2054

Look at the size: 20 m in length and 3.2 m in diameter. The Agni V, for comparison, is 17.5 m in length and 2 m in diameter. The new ICBM is longer & fatter than Agni V. The larger diameter will allow packing in MIRVs & decoys. We might even see some Hypersonic Glide Vehicles in the future, work is ongoing there.

2 years back this photo of a tractor of Transporter Erector Launcher(TEL) came up. It was under going trials in an Army artillery range at that time. The wheel arrangement is pretty unique and unlike anything I've seen before. My personal take is that this was made in a DRDO-Indian auto-industry collaboration. You can see the DRDO logo on the cabin door. Then it suddenly disappeared, don't know what happened to it after that. Maybe this truck was meant to carry the new ICBM, or maybe its just a prototype. It looks a little too small to carry that missile.
View attachment 2056

It makes sense in a way. The truck is ready, the cannister is ready, the missile is ready for flight tests I suppose. The only thing missing is the erector and launcher.

Agni 5 has a rail version too. Agni 6 might not fit on a rail if the new missile dimensions are correct. Also, this tel is an upgraded version of tata 12x12 drdo bought for testing. We need something the size of RS 12m size for our future ICBMs. the Tata 12x12 will mostly be used for conventional BMs being developed to match china.

Defence Combat Support Platforms 12X12 | Tata Motors Limited

www.tatamotors.com

 

[Osprey]

@Nilgiri @Paro et al.....

A tender is out calling for the development of a 140 ton chassis missile launcher likely for the newest member of the Agni family. View attachment 2055

It will be significantly bigger than the Agni V. The Agni V itself is no small thing :
View attachment 2057
View attachment 2058

Agni V is a 50 ton missile with ~8, 000 km range. The new one, probably named Agni VI will be 70 tons with range around 12, 000 km. Like the Agni V, the new missile will also be fired from a cannister. The cannister design has been out for a year :
View attachment 2054

Look at the size: 20 m in length and 3.2 m in diameter. The Agni V, for comparison, is 17.5 m in length and 2 m in diameter. The new ICBM is longer & fatter than Agni V. The larger diameter will allow packing in MIRVs & decoys. We might even see some Hypersonic Glide Vehicles in the future, work is ongoing there.

2 years back this photo of a tractor of Transporter Erector Launcher(TEL) came up. It was under going trials in an Army artillery range at that time. The wheel arrangement is pretty unique and unlike anything I've seen before. My personal take is that this was made in a DRDO-Indian auto-industry collaboration. You can see the DRDO logo on the cabin door. Then it suddenly disappeared, don't know what happened to it after that. Maybe this truck was meant to carry the new ICBM, or maybe its just a prototype. It looks a little too small to carry that missile.
View attachment 2056

It makes sense in a way. The truck is ready, the cannister is ready, the missile is ready for flight tests I suppose. The only thing missing is the erector and launcher.

Dang, India is really trying to improve their M.A.D level

 

[Gary]

@Nilgiri @Paro et al.....

A tender is out calling for the development of a 140 ton chassis missile launcher likely for the newest member of the Agni family. View attachment 2055

It will be significantly bigger than the Agni V. The Agni V itself is no small thing :
View attachment 2057
View attachment 2058

Agni V is a 50 ton missile with ~8, 000 km range. The new one, probably named Agni VI will be 70 tons with range around 12, 000 km. Like the Agni V, the new missile will also be fired from a cannister. The cannister design has been out for a year :
View attachment 2054

Look at the size: 20 m in length and 3.2 m in diameter. The Agni V, for comparison, is 17.5 m in length and 2 m in diameter. The new ICBM is longer & fatter than Agni V. The larger diameter will allow packing in MIRVs & decoys. We might even see some Hypersonic Glide Vehicles in the future, work is ongoing there.

2 years back this photo of a tractor of Transporter Erector Launcher(TEL) came up. It was under going trials in an Army artillery range at that time. The wheel arrangement is pretty unique and unlike anything I've seen before. My personal take is that this was made in a DRDO-Indian auto-industry collaboration. You can see the DRDO logo on the cabin door. Then it suddenly disappeared, don't know what happened to it after that. Maybe this truck was meant to carry the new ICBM, or maybe its just a prototype. It looks a little too small to carry that missile.
View attachment 2056

It makes sense in a way. The truck is ready, the cannister is ready, the missile is ready for flight tests I suppose. The only thing missing is the erector and launcher.

Cool truck

 

[Gautam]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1312294674896351232

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1312298712383680512

 

[Raptor]

India test-fires two Prithvi-2 ballistic missiles off Odisha's coast​

ANI | General News | Last Updated at December 17 2020 08:30 IST
Topics
India | ballistic missiles | Prithvi Missile

Representative photo of a missile
India on Wednesday successfully testfired two Prithvi-2 ballistic missiles off the eastern coast of Odisha in Balasore.
According to sources, the trials of the DRDO-developed nuclear-capable surface to surface missiles were successful.
Earlier on December 1, the anti-ship version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile developed by DRDO with a strike range of 300 kilometres successfully hit its target ship in a test fire.

The Prithvi-2 missile is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kg of warheads and is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines.

The sophisticated missile uses an advanced inertial guidance system with a maneuvering trajectory to hit its target, they said.

Already inducted into the armory of Indian defence forces in 2003, the nine-metre tall 'Prithvi' was the first missile to have been developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

 

[Blank1]

Well! no Indian fella posted this in here, So here we go. Any update on K4 & K15 missile would be nice.

 

[Paro]

Well! no Indian fella posted this in here, So here we go. Any update on K4 & K15 missile would be nice.

View attachment 14202 View attachment 14203

Brahmos range extended to 400 on the existing missiles and 800 on the new ones. Agni 1 out of commission, Agni 3 majority of the current inventory, Agni 5 put into commission recently a year ago maybe still filling numbers. K15 currently equipped and in service, K4 maybe ( no one knows really, Secret tests have taken place but never reported). K5 or K6 ( maybe both are the same no clue) is being worked upon for the new extended SSBNs S5 onwards, the range could be 8K according to rumors.

 

[Zapper]

Brahmos range extended to 400 on the existing missiles and 800 on the new ones. Agni 1 out of commission, Agni 3 majority of the current inventory, Agni 5 put into commission recently a year ago maybe still filling numbers. K15 currently equipped and in service, K4 maybe ( no one knows really, Secret tests have taken place but never reported). K5 or K6 ( maybe both are the same no clue) is being worked upon for the new extended SSBNs S5 onwards, the range could be 8K according to rumors.

K15 and K4 have both been inducted into INS Arihant but no official confirmation of the K4 came out. K5 is being tested using underwater platforms while no info on the K6 yet. Utmost secrecy is being maintained for the K-series missiles since they complete our nuclear triad

 

[Nilgiri]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385315352196886534

 

[Raptor]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1409393418137001984

India test fires an advanced version agni missle called agni prime.
@Cabatli_53 @T-123456 @Zapper @Nilgiri @FalconSlayersDFI @crixus @Indos @Anmdt @Test7

 

[Raptor]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1409395770646794241

 

[Raptor]

This is how it looks.

 

[Raptor]

Very impressive development imo

Left is agni-5(which had the most advanced RV till now)
Right is agni 1 prime(now it had snatched that title from agni-5)
From the pic it looks like agni 1p has MARV(maneuverable reentry vehicle)

 

[Gessler]

Very impressive development imo
View attachment 24493

Left is agni-5(which had the most advanced RV till now)
Right is agni 1 prime(now it had snatched that title from agni-5)
From the pic it looks like agni 1p has MARV(maneuverable reentry vehicle)

We've had MaRV since Agni-2 in the 90s.

There's two ways to maneuver the re-entry vehicle.

a) use of control fins (older method, used on Agni-2 and still used on most Pakistani BMs)
b) use of Divert & Attitude Control System (DACS) thrusters (newer method, used on Indian BMs from Agni-3 onwards)

What I think is happening in the Agni-1P is that we're using a combination of DACS & Control fins to achieve a degree of terminal maneuverability that no previous BM could do. This might very well place Agni-1P in the same league as the DF-21D ASBM in terms of RV maneuverability.

Another apparent improvement is that thanks to a combination of factors including electronics, fuel & booster efficiency etc. we've managed to seriously reduce the size and weight of our BMs. Now we can build a 2,000-km MRBM that's only about half as big as how that class of missile used to be 20 years ago.

 

[Gessler]

We've had MaRV since Agni-2 in the 90s.

There's two ways to maneuver the re-entry vehicle.

a) use of control fins (older method, used on Agni-2 and still used on most Pakistani BMs)
b) use of Divert & Attitude Control System (DACS) thrusters (newer method, used on Indian BMs from Agni-3 onwards)

What I think is happening in the Agni-1P is that we're using a combination of DACS & Control fins to achieve a degree of terminal maneuverability that no previous BM could do. This might very well place Agni-1P in the same league as the DF-21D ASBM in terms of RV maneuverability.

Another apparent improvement is that thanks to a combination of factors including electronics, fuel & booster efficiency etc. we've managed to seriously reduce the size and weight of our BMs. Now we can build a 2,000-km MRBM that's only about half as big as how that class of missile used to be 20 years ago.

View attachment 24921

To expand further on this, till now the peak of RV/Kill Vehicle maneuvering technology from DRDO was seen on the PDV anti-ballistic missile originally tested for the first time in 2014 (and the XSV-1 aka PDV Mk-2 ASAT weapon tested in 2019), and that relied entirely on an advanced DACS system just like SM-3 or GBI do...

PDV Mk-1​

...and we know this DACS-aided maneuvering system (not just the physical elements like the thrusters, fuel injection etc. but the software too) is pretty good because its largely the same KKV that also sits on the ASAT missile, and had to perform terminal maneuvering & engagement on the target satellite moving at between 8-10 km/s relative speed. That takes extremely precise control of hardware & software on the part of the DACS.

PDV Mk-2 / XSV-1​

Now the fact that you got a very good basis for a DACS-based RV (even if you disregard Agni-3,4 & 5 which all do as well) but are still going for the additional help provided by the fins definitely indicates that the maneuverability requirement of the intended use-case is pretty high...and the fins also mean that it's meant to maneuver inside the atmosphere i.e. terminal stage.

If its indeed a technology-demonstration platform for an ASBM (just like how the previous Agni Prime tested in 2011 was a tech-demo for Agni-4 & 5) the implications are far-reaching. A battery of these 2,000-km ASBMs deployed on one of the larger southern islands in the Andaman & Nicobar chain can target enemy carriers anywhere in the crucial transit regions of Malacca Strait, Singapore Strait & even Sunda Strait.

 

[Nilgiri]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1411660169033916423