India Missiles and Guided Munitions

Gautam

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India should not just advertise this just as Anti-Airfield weapon, this type of missiles can be even used for anti-ship roles
Munitions with continuous trust output for a majority of their flight profile are called missiles. Cruise missiles/ballistic missiles have an engine continuously firing to provide them with thrust power.

The SAAW one has no engine at all, its a glide bomb. It is dropped from a height, then it will deploy the wings and glide on to the target. That's it. The only fancy thing here is the guidance and navigation kit. The SAAW can be used for Anti-ship role, but it is less than optimal option. It will probably only effective against undefended or weakly defended ships.

As far as airborne anti-ship missiles go we have the American Harpoon in service with our P-8Is, then there is the Brahmos-A on the Su-30MKIs. There will be a subsonic air-launched anti-ship cruise missile soon for all our fighters.

There is a hypersonic air-launched missile coming up too. Meant to be used for anti-ship use and also taking out hardened bunkers etc. Speed is aimed at Mach 7.5 to 8.
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India needs to up their PR game in general, improve brand recognition at the international stage.
That's true.
 

Paro

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There were prototypes available that were meant for weapon testing. Production orders hadn't come in then.
What I have heard was saaw was available back then. Drdo was even told to start equipping them. They were turned down last-minute over the commercially available spike so as not to compromise the attack profile as it was going to be the front line weapon on paf and chinese runways in a future conflict.
A single Su30 can carry 20 of them which can penetrate runways and hardened shelters alike. A pair of bomb trucks can wipe out an airfield in a conflict. This is IAFs answer for PLARFs BMs in an immediate conflict.
 
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Gautam

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What I have heard was saaw was available back then. Drdo was even told to start equipping them. They were turned down last-minute over the commercially available spike so as not to compromise the attack profile as it was going to be the front line weapon on paf and chinese runways in a future conflict.
A single Su30 can carry 20 of them which can penetrate runways and hardened shelters alike. A pair of bomb trucks can wipe out an airfield in a conflict. This is IAFs answer for PLARFs BMs in an immediate conflict.
Its hard to make sense of these things sometimes. During conflict the usual testing and equipping cycle goes for a toss, you use what you have. For example, there has been reports from multiple new sites about the deployment of Nirbhay missiles near the LAC. When did the Nirbhay enter service ? Apparently they are available in limited quantities.
 

Combat-Master

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Another upcoming cruise missile :
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The sea skimming missile is being developed for use from Sea King helicopters. It's an air launched anti ship missile to enable carriage by Indian Navy's shipborne Sea King helicopters to replace the currently in use Sea Eagle missiles(pic below). The SR in the name suggests there will be a MR and LR version in the future.
View attachment 1109

I'm intrigued by the jet vanes on the booster. Why so much engineering into something that will ultimately be dropped into the sea?
 

Gautam

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I'm intrigued by the jet vanes on the booster. Why so much engineering into something that will ultimately be dropped into the sea?
The NASM will have multiple variants both by range and by operating platforms. We have plenty of large patrol boats that are essentially unarmed. At some stage it is likely that some variant of the NASM will find itself mounted on those boats using inclined launchers. Those jet vanes will come in handy in case you need over-the-shoulder missile firing capability.

The production line for all the variants of the missile will be the same, at least initially. So it makes sense to have maximum possible commonality in components, LRUs etc. You can save a lot of time & money that way in the long run. This is a lesson we learned the hard way with the Pinaka MBRL.
 

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I'm intrigued by the jet vanes on the booster. Why so much engineering into something that will ultimately be dropped into the sea?

Probably also helps with fast acquisition of pitch and roll stability (esp in adverse conditions). Leaves less for the main motor and its control system to do...they can then be optimised by mass/size more.
 

Gautam

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More clarity on the Nirbhay missile deployment :

India moves terrain-hugging Nirbhay missiles with 1,000-km range to defend LAC

The Nirbhay subsonic cruise missile will be inducted into the army and navy after the seventh trial next month

Updated: Oct 01, 2020; 06:36 IST
By Shishir Gupta
Hindustan Times, New Delhi
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Photo: Nirbhay long-range, sub-sonic cruise missile in flight.

India will formally induct the Nirbhay subsonic cruise missile into the Indian Army and Navy after the seventh trial scheduled next month but has already moved a limited number of the missiles to the Line of Actual Control where Indian soldiers are locked in a tense standoff with China’s PLA.


The 1,000 km range missile has a single shot kill ratio of more than 90 per cent. It has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), people familiar with the development told Hindustan Times hours after India test-fired an extended-range BrahMos surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile that can hit targets 400 km away.

The Defence Acquisition Council headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh has cleared the formal induction of the Nirbhay subsonic missile. The military, however, did not wait for the formality to deploy the new missile and has already moved some of them to defend the LAC against China.

The missile, which travels at a speed of 0.7 Mach, has both terrain-hugging and sea-skimming capability that helps it avoid detection and counter-measures.


At the LAC, the PLA’s western theatre command has deployed stand-off weapons up to 2,000 km range and long-range surface-to-air missiles in Tibet and Xinjiang after the Ladakh stand-off started in May this year. The Chinese deployment is not limited to occupied Aksai Chin but is located in depth positions from Kashgar, Hotan, Lhasa and Nyingchi along the 3,488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Officials said Wednesday’s testing of the 400-km range BrahMos missiles with an indigenous airframe and booster is significant since it clears the decks for India to have the next class of supersonic long-range tactical cruise missile. The Brahmos has a liquid-fuelled ramjet capable of ranges over 500 km.

These new-age weapons will be based on solid-fuelled ducted ramjet (SFDR) technology that can be used for air-to-air missiles as well as long-range supersonic cruise missiles. The technology has been tested by the DRDO twice - on 30 May 2018, and 8 February 2019.

“The new class of cruise missile will have a solid rocket booster along with supersonic speed using SFDR technology. The range of missiles can be decided on the basis of mission objectives,” said an Indian missile expert.

It is understood that the new class of cruise missiles (yet to be named) will have a better circular error of probability than the BrahMos with a heavy conventional warhead to target airbases and ships of the adversary.



So there is an SFDR based cruise missile coming up. Or did they confuse SFDR with LFRJ ?

SFDR was tested twice :
1st test :
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2nd test:
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By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 1st Sept 2020




Indo-Russian joint venture (JV) firm, Brahmos Aerospace on Wednesday successfully tested an extended range version of the BrahMos cruise missile. While the existing version of the missile has a maximum range of 290 kilometres, the BrahMos fired today struck a target more than 400 km away.



Since the JV was founded in 1998 to develop, manufacture and market the BrahMos cruise missile, India and Russia have adhered to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which prohibits the transfer of missiles, or missile technology, with ranges beyond 300 km to non-member states. However, with India having become a MTCR member-country in 2016, New Delhi is less stringently bound by technology transfer rules.



Even so, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said nothing about breaching the 300-km range barrier, while Tweeting his acknowledgement “for the successful flight testing of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with indigenous booster and air frame [to the] designated range.”



The BrahMos is regarded as one of the world’s premier cruise missiles, with its supersonic speed of 2.8 Mach (almost 3,000 kmph) making it extremely difficult for enemy fighters to intercept and shoot down. Conventional cruise missiles, such as the US military’s Tomahawk, travel at about 890 kmph, a low speed at which supersonic fighters can overtake them.



While the current test was restricted to 400 km, it is a signal that the BrahMos could be built for far longer ranges in the future, limited only by its fuel carriage.



In any conflict with China, the unmanned BrahMos could be advantageously used in the opening stages for pinpoint strikes on heavily defended targets – such as air bases, headquarters, key roads and railways or logistics dumps – which are too dangerous for manned fighter aircraft to attack.



Through incremental improvement and progressive testing, the BrahMos has become a key element of the Indian military’s strike power. It is employed by all three services, and launched from all four dimensions: from ground launchers, aircraft, surface warships and submarines.



The army operates four BrahMos regiments, including missiles programmed for “steep dive” attacks. These skim over high mountain ridgelines before diving steeply onto their target on the valley floor.



Such capabilities do not come cheap. Each BrahMos regiment, which is a fully mobile entity with a command post, four missile-launcher vehicles and several missile carriers to carry its complement of 90 missiles, costs around Rs 2000 crore.



The army is on track to buy two more BrahMos regiments. With the range of the BrahMos now being extended, it is likely that the 5th and 6th BrahMos regiments would be equipped with the longer-range missiles.



Defence industry analysts say that each BrahMos missile costs around Rs 15 crore, about the same as the cost of a Tomahawk. At that price, partner countries such as Vietnam, to which New Delhi and Moscow have agreed to offer the BrahMos, are unable to afford it.



The Indian Air Force (IAF) is also committed to the BrahMos, having based a full Sukhoi-30MKI squadron, equipped with the BrahMos air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. From this peninsular base, the long-range Sukhoi fighters can strike targets in three directions – the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the northern Indian Ocean.



The integration of the Sukhoi-30MKI with the BrahMos allows the IAF to strike targets up to 3,000 km away. In an exercise in May 2019, Sukhoi-30s attacked a target 3,000 km away, refuelling on their way out and a second time on their way back to Thanjavur.



The Navy has also adopted the BrahMos as its standard ship-launched cruise missile (SLCM). All the navy’s frigates and destroyers are now being built to carry the BrahMos in vertical-launch canisters – eight missiles in each frigate and 16 in each destroyer. BrahMos is already carried by the indigenous Project 15B destroyers, and are being integrated into the Talwar-class frigates being built in Russia.



BrahMos Aerospace has also offered its missile for fitment into the navy’s next six submarines that are proposed to be built under Project 75-I. In March 2013, a BrahMos was fired from an underwater pontoon, validating it as a submarine launched cruise missile.



BrahMos Aerospace was incorporated through an Indo-Russian Inter-Government Agreement (IGA), and is named after India’s Brahmaputra and Russia’s Moskva rivers. It is 50.5 per cent owned by India and 49.5 per cent by Russia, the MoD had told Parliament on May 9, 2007.



According to the MoD, the share capital of BrahMos Aerospace was $250 million initially. This was increased by $50 million to cover the cost of developing the air-launched version of the missile.



New Delhi’s contribution of a little over $150 million includes Rs 634 crore contributed by the military and Rs 370 crore contributed by the Defence R&D Organisation.
 

Gautam

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Old but awesome photo. Brahmos ALCM separation from the central hardpoint of the Su-30MKI. Look at the size of that clamp.
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Test7

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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the success.

SMART-333x500.jpg


India successfully flight tested the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha on Monday.
All mission objectives, including missile flight upto the range and altitude, separation of the nose cone, the release of Torpedo and deployment of Velocity Reduction Mechanism (VRM), were met perfectly in the flight test.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the success.
"The DRDO has successfully flight tested the Supersonic Missile assisted release of Torpedo, SMART. This will be a major technology breakthrough for stand-off capability in anti-submarine warfare. I congratulate DRDO and other stakeholders for this significant achievement," Singh's tweet read.

SMART is a missile assisted release of lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations for far beyond torpedo range. This launch and demonstration are significant in establishing ASW capabilities.

Speaking about it, Chairman DRDO, Dr G Satheesh Reddy, said, "SMART is a game-changer technology demonstration in the ASW."
The events of today were monitored by the tracking stations (Radars, Electro Optical Systems) along the coast and the telemetry stations including down range ships.
A number of DRDO laboratories, including DRDL, RCI Hyderabad, ADRDE Agra, NSTL Visakhapatnam, have developed the technologies required for SMART.

Earlier, this month DRDO had successfully tested Laser-Guided Anti Tank Guided Missile. The test was conducted from MBT Arjun at KK Ranges (ACC&S) Ahmednagar in continuation with the successful trials done on September 22.


 

Gautam

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@Nilgiri @Paro @#comcom et al.....

This one weapon has significant implications for the whole region for a simple reason. Range. The missile has a max range of 650 km !!
Compare that with the 22km ranged ASROC or the Japanese 30km ranges rocket torpedo. There is no analogue to the SMART in the world today.

This range accompanied by the excellent detection capabilities of the Kamorta class ASW corvette, Dornier Do-228, Naval ALH, Boeing P-8I Neptunes & the soon to be acquired Guardian drones, we will be taking submarine warfare to a whole new level. I agree with Saurav Jha: "Wide area ASW... just got a lot wider."

We can let the sensors detect the subs & fire missiles from land. If the land is the Andamans, the entire Malacca strait is in range. You get the drift. I do think that the destroyers will carry these too. There is a lot of free deck space on the Kolkata class.

More photos :
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The missile at the end of its supersonic flight will release a torpedo, which will decelerate to subsonic speeds and hit the water. The torpedo is probably the NSTL/DRDO Advanced Light weight Torpedo(ALWT).

The ALWT is on par or better than most lightweight torpedoes out there in the world today. The only thing left to improve upon is the maximum depth. Right now operating depth is at 600 m, assuming a safety factor of 0.8 the maximum attainable depth is 750 m. There are torpedoes out there with 1000 m maximum depth. Range and speed will be further improved when the under-development high energy density batteries come. DRDO/NSTL are also working on super-cavitation technologies for underwater weaponry.

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Nilgiri

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This range accompanied by the excellent detection capabilities of the Kamorta class ASW corvette, Dornier Do-228, Naval ALH, Boeing P-8I Neptunes & the soon to be acquired Guardian drones, we will be taking submarine warfare to a whole new level. I agree with Saurav Jha: "Wide area ASW... just got a lot wider."

Yes this is real potency addition, integrating with such system as the P-8 so it can do a mid course steer or even re-assignment.

It will be interesting to see how this project evolves and matures. Excellent innovative start.
 

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