Indian missile news & discussion

Pinaka successfully test-fired
BALASORE, APR 13 (PTI)
Multi-barrel rocket system ‘Pinaka’ was today successfully test-fired twice at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from here.

The trials took place at the Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE) at 2.30 PM And 3.05 PM, defence sources said.

Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Pinaka is an area weapon system aimed at supplementing the army’s existing artillery gun with a range beyond 30 km.

Its quick reaction time and high rate of fire provides the army an edge during low-intensity war-like situations.

The unguided rocket system put under trial here could be used to neutralise a higher geographical area with its salvo of rockets, the sources said.

With a range of 39 km, Pinaka can fire a salvo of 12 rockets within 44 seconds.

One salvo each (12 rockets) fired from a battery of six launchers can neutralise a target area of 3.9 sq km simultaneously.

Pinaka can be fitted with a different type of warhead which can make it deadly for the enemy as it has the capability to destroy solid structures and bunkers, sources said.

BrahMos aircraft version trial next year
Chennai, Apr 13 (PTI): The first trial of the ‘air to land’ version of India’s indigenously-developed supersonic cruise missile, “BrahMos”, would take place by 2007 December, a top Defence Ministry official said today.
The ‘aircraft version’ of the missile would be integrated in the Sukhoi-30 MKI’s, Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Controller, Research and Development, DRDO, and CEO and MD, BrahMos Aerospace, told reporters here.

He said the IAF had asked for the integration of BrahMos into Sukhoi-30 MKIs. A few of the 140 Sukhoi’s that are produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd,would be fitted with the missile, he said.

“We have completed the technical feasibility of integrating BrahMos with Sukhoi-30 MKI,” he said adding “certain development work which will enable fitment of the missile in the aircraft is on.” Pillai said the process of inducting the missile in the Indian Navy had already started. “We have already completed 11 successful trials of the ‘anti-ship version’ of the cruise missile, that have proved its trustworthiness,” he said.

The ‘anti-ship’ version has two versions- ‘ship to ship and shore to ship’.

He said the Navy wanted it to be integrated in multiple and different types of ships.The navy has identified various ships in which BrahMos would be fitted in. He also informed that a contract had been signed with the Navy for it.

Pillai said India and Russia had an inter-government agreement by which the countries would induct BrahMos and could sell it to “friendly countries” as well.

While India had started the induction, Russia was expected to do so in two to three years, he said.

:diablo:

(Posted by Vick@BR)

the terminal stage of the Klub ASM flies at Mach3.2 a few meters above the sea level. the physics of speed is not an issue. the 120km is lo-lo-lo range, a Hi-lo-lo profile will end up giving it a range between 120 to 300km depending on % of lo flight.

But Ground isnt as flat as the sea…thats the point. Physics of speed is not in question, physics of manouvering at rough terrain at low levels with that kind of high speed is.

the terminal stage of the Klub ASM flies at Mach3.2 a few meters above the sea level. the physics of speed is not an issue. the 120km is lo-lo-lo range, a Hi-lo-lo profile will end up giving it a range between 120 to 300km depending on % of lo flight.

NEW DELHI: With Pakistan testing its new ‘Babur’ cruise missile for the second time last month, the Army has speeded up its plan to raise a special regiment for the land version of India’s own BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

Already equipped with missile groups to handle the 150-km Prithvi, 700-800-km Agni-I and 2,000-km-plus Agni-II ballistic missiles, the Army’s new BrahMos regiment will include three batteries of six-road mobile autonomous launchers each.

“The land-to-land version of BrahMos, which flies at a 2.8 Mach speed, was tested for the first time at Pokhran in December 2004. Since then, preparations were afoot to induct the road mobile complex of this missile in the Army,” said an official.

“With terrain-hugging and infrared seeking capabilities, the Army will use BrahMos as its precision-strike weapon. It has a strike range of 300 km, which can be enhanced further,” he added. :diablo: :diablo:

Seeking answer to my earlier post, I found this on another forum,

On a HI-LO trajectory, with the missile cruising to the target area at an altitude of about 14,000 meters (46,000 feet), the maximum range is about 300 kilometers (185 miles), while on a LO-LO trajectory the maximum range is about 120 kilometers (75 miles). Maximum speed is about Mach 2.6 at high altitude and about Mach 1.5 at low altitude.
http://www.vectorsite.net/twbomba.html

That seems to make more sense.

Apart from Brahmos, India’s other Response to Babur:
http://202.87.40.14/data/videos/taming_babur.wmv

FORCE March 06
By Prasun K. Sengupta
[b]India’s response through the Sagarika missile[/b]
www.forceindia.net

Implications for India

Faced with the prospect of nuclear-tipped LACMs being launched by both its northern and western neighbours in times of hostilities, the MoD has planned a three-pronged approach to counter this threat. Firstly, it has authorised the India-Russia joint venture BrahMos Aerospace Ltd to increase the BrahMos MRCM’s speed to Mach 7 by possibly using DRDO-developed scramjet technologies. Secondly, it has pumped in additional funds for fast-tracking the indigenous R&D effort (with heavy Israeli industrial involvement) aimed at fielding two variants of the Sagarika 1,500km-range nuclear-capable LACM — air and submarine-launched — by 2008. Thirdly, it recently approved the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) request for procuring on a fast-track basis, another three Extended Air Defence Tethered Aerostat systems off-the-shelf from Israel Aircraft Industries’ ELTA Electronics subsidiary, to add to the three presently in service. To be deployed in the Rann of Kutch and Jammu, each such system comprises a large, unpowered balloon moored to the ground by a long cable and positioned at altitudes between 10,000 and 15,000 feet. It is tactically relocatable and contains ELTA’s EL/M-2083 active phased-array radar, can remain on station for 30-day periods providing 24-hour-per-day coverage out to a distance of 500km in a look-down mode. The IAF intends to use such radars for accurately tracking Pakistan’s future ballistic missile and LACM test-flights without fail. Pakistan’s ballistic missiles are launched from a firing range near Nowshera in the North West Frontier Province , the Tilla Range near Jhelum , Sonmiani Range 75km north of Karachi , and the Ratla Range off the Siwalik Hills west of Dera Ghazi Khan. The missiles’ impact points are either in the Arabian Sea or at Sandhak, 50km east of the Iranian border in Baluchistan province. The Babur was launched last year from Sonmiani towards its designated target located at Sandhak.

Project Sagarika’s Timeline

1990: DRDO forms a sub-group comprising its Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Bangalore-based Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) to begin R&D work on a submarine-launched, medium-range land-attack ballistic missile (MRBM), called Sagarika. Its estimated R&D cost is pegged at US$33.3 million. The single-stage missile, fuelled by solid propellants, will have a 330km range with a 1-tonne warhead and 750km range with a 250kg warhead. It will be 8.5-metres high, use a solid propellant hot gas generator to vertically launch itself from its canister, and have a microprocessor-based closed-loop, strap-down inertial navigation system.

April 2000: The debate on submarine- and warship-launched LACMs versus MRBMs heats up within the top echelons of the Indian Navy. Navy HQ subsequently veers more towards the LACM option, and is not in favour of procuring either the warship-launched 500km-range liquid-fuelled Dhanush or its submarine-launched Sagarika MRBM variant.

May: With logistical help from the IN, a Class 209/Type 1800 diesel-electric submarine (SSK) of the Israeli Navy test-fires two turbofan-powered 1,500km-range Popeye LACMs (built by RAFAEL Armament Authority) off Sri Lanka’s western coastline in the Indian Ocean. One missile reaches its designated target off the coast of Oman , while another lands at a pre-designated spot off the coast of Gujarat . Israel , which has developed the LACM’s 200kg nuclear warhead containing 6kg of plutonium, subsequently shares details of this LACM and its warhead with the DRDO, DAE and IN. Following this, the IN finalises its decision to make the LACM its preferred sea-launched nuclear warhead carrier. The IAF too decides to use an air-launched variant of Sagarika. The DRDO, meanwhile, proposes to house such LACMs on board SSKs as a medium-term solution until the arrival of an indigenous nuclear-powered SSGN.

May 2002: The Sagarika project undergoes a radical makeover, as Navy HQ now decides to forego the MRBM option and instead expresses a requirement for a nuclear warhead-tipped LACM with a required range of 1,500km and a desirable range of 2,500km (when equipped with twin bladder tanks). The IN also wants the high-subsonic LACM to be turbojet-powered, and launched from a 16-tube universal VLS that will also be able to fire the BrahMos supersonic MRCM armed with conventional warheads. The LACM will feature twin retractable, variable geometry (sweep) wings, while the air-launched variant will have fixed control fins and stabilisers.

August: For developing and fabricating the Sagarika LACM, the DRDO awards contracts to Larsen and Toubro, Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd, and the DRDO’s DRDL, Research Centre Imarat, DARE, Advanced Systems Laboratory, Pune-based Explosives Research and Development Laboratory, and the Kolkata-based Electronics Research and Development Centre. Larsen and Toubro will fabricate the 16-cell VLS based on technical and engineering inputs provided by Russia ‘s RUBIN Central Design Bureau and BrahMos Aerospace.

Mid-2003: BrahMos Aerospace unveils its proposal for equipping the RUBIN-developed Amur 1650 single-hulled SSK with an universal 8-cell VLS capable of firing both the BrahMos MRCM and proposed Sagarika LACM.

December 2003: A high-level team from the DRDO visits Israel to negotiate joint development of weapon and sensor systems for the former’s ATV nuclear-powered submarine technology demonstrator. RAFAEL agrees to act as principal design consultant for the vertically-launched Sagarika LACM, especially its solid propellant booster, and the retractable 680lb-thrust turbojet that is being developed by the DRDO’s Bangalore-based Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE).

5 October 2004 : The MoD floats an innovative new approach to form partnerships between DRDO and private-sector companies to encourage the latter to develop ATV- and Sagarika-related systems and sub-assemblies. Under the new approach, called government-owned company-run (GoCo), the DRDO will enter into ventures with a small equity and guarantee private-sector firms that undertake to manufacture the products with a buy-back guarantee.

October 27: The original Sagarika MRBM, now called Prithvi-3, is test-fired from a submerged VLS fabricated by Larsen & Toubro at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Orissa’s Balasore district.

November: DRDO approaches UK-based THALES Missile Electronics Ltd for jointly developing a dual-mode long-waveIIR/94GHz radar seeker, called DMS, for the land-attack versions of both the BrahMos MRCM and Sagarika. The seeker, when fully developed, will have digital scene-matching area correlation capability.

9 February 2005 : Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee admits that there have been delays in the Sagarika’s R&D effort.

February 11: DRDO Director-General Dr M. Natarajan flatly denies the existence of any project to develop the Sagarika LACM. However, senior DRDO officials unofficially confirm that a 40-strong DRDL-led team of designers and engineers is indeed overseeing the LACM’s development at an estimated cost of US$58.1 million over a seven-year timeframe. The R&D effort is led by the DRDL and includes 19 other DRDO laboratories, 21 public-sector undertakings and six private-sector firms.

Early March 2006: Navy HQ and Air HQ decide to conduct six test-firings each of fully functional Sagarika LACMs under battlefield conditions by 2008. The navies of India and Israel hold their 4 th joint cooperation meeting in New Delhi during which progress on the submarine-launched Sagarika LACM is taken stock of.

Dr Khan’s Second Wal-Mart

I’m wondering how will the missile hug the rough terrain at those speeds, I’m guessing it will have to slow down significantly for that..

NEW DELHI: With Pakistan testing its new ‘Babur’ cruise missile for the second time last month, the Army has speeded up its plan to raise a special regiment for the land version of India’s own BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

Already equipped with missile groups to handle the 150-km Prithvi, 700-800-km Agni-I and 2,000-km-plus Agni-II ballistic missiles, the Army’s new BrahMos regiment will include three batteries of six-road mobile autonomous launchers each.

“The land-to-land version of BrahMos, which flies at a 2.8 Mach speed, was tested for the first time at Pokhran in December 2004. Since then, preparations were afoot to induct the road mobile complex of this missile in the Army,” said an official.

“With terrain-hugging and infrared seeking capabilities, the Army will use BrahMos as its precision-strike weapon. It has a strike range of 300 km, which can be enhanced further,” he added. :diablo: :diablo:

Army version of Brahmos missile operational: Pranab

New Delhi: India has made operational surface-to-surface version of the supersonic Brahmos cruise missile, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Rajya Sabha today.

He said it would be operated through a mobile launcher specially developed for the purpose

> Will the submarine version of the Brahmos have underwater launch capability?

certainly. cold launched tech for another missile has been tested from the submerged barged thing as you know. and russia also has Granit system on oscar subs similar.

IAF testfires short range missile, tests Lakshya
BALASORE, MAR 9 (PTI)
The Indian Air force today test fired a short range missile procured by it at the Integrated Test Range(ITR) near Chandipur, around 14 km from here, defence sources said.

Pilotless Target Aircraft ‘Lakshya’ was also test flown from the ITR to facilitate the missile testfire at around 11 am, they said.

Lakshya was flown as a support system to gauge the precision control of the short range missile.

A team of officials from Kalaikunda IAF base in neighbouring West Bengal came to Chandipur to undertake the test.

Will the submarine version of the Brahmos have underwater launch capability?

It now certainly confirmed that brahmos will be fitted into subs, but will the extended version too would be fitted or just the 290Km version?

Also how can India fully exploit the exportability of brahmos? Already few countries has shown gr8 interest in it, but what more could be done?

IIRC TATA was developing the AirForce version of Akash , which is based on the Tatra Truck .

I heard on NDTV that Tata has mfg Akash? Have they entered into JV with DRDO for the same?

fire control system of prithvi missile
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MISSILES/Images/P1010027%20Duel%20redundent%20Firecontrol%20system%20cropped.jpg

Interesting that model of Sukhoi with 3 brahmos missiles.And on the picture at defexpo its just 1!
To convert brahmos into 1000 km cruise missile will be done in secret at least at start in order not to disturb pakistan [or china] too much and i dont think they would say that in open-for now.Its not a big problem for russians they have done it before just add a big solid booster at the bottom and tripple the range. :diablo:

dont really need larger solid booster probably incoporate some weight reduction (which is already being done for air launched variant) by incoporating greater amount of composites and which should offset the increase in the fuel load. And as i mentioned a more range enhancing flight path.

Anyway

Israel, India to Cooperate on $350M Long-Range Barak SAM Project

The Barak-I and Barak-II will replace ageing Russian OSA-M and Volna RA-31 missiles still in operation on most Indian warships.

Looks like Barak-II will also replace exsisting SAM systems, look like it also is easy to strap on modular system like the orginal variant.

Your thoughts on this?

[COLOR=Red]FORCE[/COLOR]

‘For the Present, One BrahMos missile will be Fitted on Su-30Mki Without any Structural Modifications’

Interview With Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai
Feb 2006 [www.forceindia.net]

Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Controller, Defence Research and Development Organisation and CEO, BrahMos

Interesting that model of Sukhoi with 3 brahmos missiles.And on the picture at defexpo its just 1!
To convert brahmos into 1000 km cruise missile will be done in secret at least at start in order not to disturb pakistan [or china] too much and i dont think they would say that in open-for now.Its not a big problem for russians they have done it before just add a big solid booster at the bottom and tripple the range. :diablo:

Some More,

1. Processor Based Ground Mine

2. TAL

3. Akash

4. L&T MBRLS

5. Torpedo Decoy Launcher