mattIndia makes propulsion system design for new missile
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New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) India has completed the propulsion system design of its new cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ which will have a strike range of 800 kms, DRDO chief V K Saraswat has said.
“The development of the system is on. We have completed the propulsion system’s design. But we have not integrated it.
Once we reach the integration stage, we will show it you,” he told reporters here last night.
Saraswat said the missile is a technology demonstrator.
India already has in its arsenal ‘BrahMos’, a 300-km range cruise missile developed in collaboration with Russia.
It has various versions for use by all the three wings of the armed forces.
Saraswat said the country is also gearing to test its its indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield in near future, a programme, he claimed, is more sophisticated than the Chinese one.
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He does marketting pretty well, i hope the systems live up to expectation.
guess they have to be more accurate “better” due to the lower yield nukes.
mattIndia to deploy Akash missiles in North-East to deter China
Rajat Pandit, TNN, 16 February 2010, 03:03am ISTText Size:|Topics:China
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NEW DELHI: India plans to progressively base six surface-to-air Akash missile squadrons in the North-East to counter the threat posed by Chinese
fighters, helicopters and drones in the region.
Sources say IAF will get eight Akash tactical air defence squadrons by 2015, with the first one becoming operational by 2011 itself, at a cost of over Rs 6,100 crore. Every squadron will have two `flights’ of four Akash launchers each. Moreover, the Army is now poised to order two Akash regiments, with six firing batteries each, for around Rs 4,000 crore.
With an effective interception range of 25 km, the DRDO-developed Akash system with supersonic missiles and a network of radars is designed to neutralise multiple aerial targets attacking from several directions simultaneously in all-weather conditions. With an 88% “kill probability”, it can even take on sub-sonic cruise missiles.
The plan to base Akash squadrons in North-East constitutes yet another step to counter China’s massive build-up of military infrastructure all along the unresolved 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Though it woke up quite late, India is now fastracking measures like raising of two new specialised infantry mountain divisions and an artillery brigade for Arunachal Pradesh and basing of two Sukhoi-30MKI squadrons (36 fighters) each at Tezpur and Chabua in Assam.
India is also looking to deploy the 3,500-km Agni-III and the under-development over 5,000-km Agni-V ballistic missiles as soon as possible. While Agni-III will be operationally ready by 2011-2012, the two new infantry divisions, with 1,260 officers and 35,011 soldiers, will be in place by 2012.
The government, of course, likes to downplay all this. Defence minister A K Antony on Monday said the two new divisions were part of the overall strategy to strengthen the armed forces.
“It’s not directed at China or any country. The aim is to have an effective deterrent against any threat or eventuality,” said Antony, after inaugurating DefExpo-2010, which has attracted a record 650 companies.
India is not “a war-mongering country”, nor does it covet “even an inch” of any country’s territory. “But we are ready to defend every inch of our territory… Our aim is to give the most modern equipment to our armed forces so that they can meet any challenge from any quarter at any time,” said Antony.
Yes, there is the long-pending border dispute with China, but both New Delhi and Beijing are trying to “amicably resolve” it through talks. Relations with China in other sectors like trade have dramatically improved, said Antony.
While this is certainly true, China is upgrading as many as 14 airfields in Tibet, of which at least half are now fully-operational. Its Linzi airbase, for instance, is not even 30 km away from the LAC in Arunachal.
With straight double-digit hikes in its defence budget for over 20 years, the 2.25-million strong People’s Liberation Army has swiftly enhanced its transborder and `area-denial’ military capabilities as well as bolstered its nuclear missile arsenal.
mattShaurya surfaces as India’s underwater nuclear missile
Ajai Shukla / New Delhi February 17, 2010, 0:04 IST
If launched from a submarine off the China coast, it could hit several Chinese cities like Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai.
Air and land-based nuclear weapons are delivered to their targets by fighter aircraft and ballistic missiles, respectively. Since these can be knocked out by an enemy first strike, the most reliable nuclear deterrent has traditionally been underwater, missiles hidden in a submarine.
V K Saraswat, the DRDO chief and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, revealed to Business Standard at the ongoing Defexpo 2010, “We have designed the Shaurya so that it can be launched from under water as easily as from land. The gas-filled canister that houses the missile fits easily into a submarine. The underwater leg of the nuclear triad needs to be totally reliable and needs a state-of-the-art missile.”
India’s undersea deterrent had so far revolved around the K-15 ballistic missile, built with significant help from Russia. The K-15 was to equip the INS Arihant, India’s lone nuclear-powered submarine, which is being constructed in Visakhapatnam. But now, after rigorous underwater testing, the Shaurya could be the mainstay of Arihant’s arsenal.
“The Shaurya was developed from ground up as a submarine-capable missile,” confirms Dr Prahlada, the top DRDO scientist responsible for liaising with the military. “Every piece of technology for fitting it in a submarine is already in place.”
Shortly before the Defexpo 2010, Dr Saraswat had publicly stated that India’s missile technology was ahead of China’s and Pakistan’s.
Now top DRDO scientists have revealed that the Shaurya is not a ballistic missile, as it has been thought to be; it is actually a hypersonic cruise missile, which never leaves the atmosphere.
A ballistic missile is like a stone being lobbed towards a target. Rockets toss it upwards and towards the target; after the rocket burns out, gravity pulls the missile warhead down towards the target. Buffeted by wind and re-entry forces, accuracy is a problem; and, since the ballistic missile’s path is predictable, shooting it down is relatively easy.
The Shaurya has none of these issues. Its solid-fuel, two-stage rocket accelerates the missile to six times the speed of sound before it reaches an altitude of 40 kilometers (125,000 feet), after which it levels out and cruises towards the target, powered by its onboard fuel.
While ballistic missiles cannot correct their course midway, the Shaurya is an intelligent missile. Onboard navigation computers kick in near the target, guiding the missile to the target and eliminating errors that inevitably creep in during its turbulent journey.
The Shaurya, say DRDO sources, will strike within 20-30 metres of its target after travelling 750 kilometres.
Conventional cruise missiles, like the American Tomahawk and the Indo-Russian Brahmos, offer similar accuracy. But their air-breathing engines carry them along slowly, rendering them vulnerable to enemy aircraft and missiles. The Shaurya’s solid-fuel, air-independent engine propels it along at hypersonic speeds, leaving enemy fighters and missiles far behind.
“I would say the Shaurya is a hybrid propulsion missile”, says Dr Saraswat. “Like a ballistic missile, it is powered by solid fuel. And, like a cruise missile, it can guide itself right up to the target.”
Making the Shaurya even more capable is its ability to manoeuvre, following a twisting path to the target that makes it very difficult to shoot it down. In contrast, a ballistic missile is predictable; its trajectory gives away its target and its path to it.
mattMBDA India chief says plans to upgrade India’s fighters
Tue Feb 16, 2010 4:51pm IST
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1 of 1Full SizeNEW DELHI (Reuters) – European defence group MBDA on Tuesday said it plans to upgrade India’s Jaguar and Mirage 2000 fighters and also develop missiles with an India research unit.
“India is the biggest market for us globally,” Loic Piedevache, India country head, MBDA, told Reuters. “We are looking to consolidate our position.”
MBDA, which is a leader in manufacturing missiles, is a venture of European aerospace group EADS, Britain’s BAE Systems and Italy’s Finmeccanica.
Piedevache said the company plans to upgrade more than 100 Jaguars with the latest Asraam missiles, to replace the older Magic missiles.
MBDA also plans to upgrade more than 50 Mirage 2000 fighters.
“We are looking to expand in India,” he said. “We are working with big private groups and we are working with SMEs.”
The company is also working with the Indian government’s defence research unit to develop surface-to-air missiles, he said.
(Reporting by Bappa Majumdar; editing by Malini Menon)
mattEurocopter bids for $8 billion in Indian defence contracts
(AFP) – 3 hours ago
NEW DELHI — Eurocopter said Tuesday it was bidding for Indian military contracts worth up to eight billion dollars, including a deal scrapped in 2007 after it was awarded to the European helicopter maker.
“We have bid for contracts from the Indian army, air force, navy, coast guard and others worth between seven and eight billion dollars,” the company’s marketing vice-president Rainer Farid told AFP at an arms fair in New Delhi.
He also said that Eurocopter, the helicopter unit of European aerospace giant EADS, had resubmitted a bid for a 600-million-dollar deal to sell India 197 army helicopters.
The was scrapped in December 2007, after it had been awarded to Eurocopter amid allegations in the Indian media of wrongdoing by the firm.
The signing of the deal was meant to have been a highlight of a visit to India by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in January 2008.
The company had been contracted to sell 60 helicopters in a “fly-away” condition to the Indian army, while the remaining 137 were to be assembled at state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in India (HAL).
The new tender for the helicopters, for which the Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland and Russia’s Kamov are also in race, is scheduled to be awarded later this year, Indian defence ministry officials told AFP.
Eurocopter’s Farid said the firm was also hoping to supply 30 helicopters to the Indian coast guard, for which tenders would be opened next year, and added it was also in the race to produce 200 helicopters jointly with the HAL.
“We are also bidding for a contract to replace 40 ageing helicopters of the Indian navy but the process is currently at an initial stage,” Farid said.
India is among the world’s top 10 military spenders with an annual defence budget last year of 1,420 billion rupees (31.55 billion dollars).
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
mattAntony Offers Private Industry, Foreign Companies Partnership in Critical Defence Technologies
(Source: Press Information Bureau of India; issued February 15, 2010)
The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony has offered the private industry and foreign companies partnership in the critical technologies in the Defence sector. Delivering the inaugural address to the 6th Def Expo India 2010 here this morning, Shri Antony said India is fast becoming an outsourcing hub for the defence industry. He said the Government is committed to the modernisation of the Armed Forces.
“We have made Defence Procurement Procedures transparent and to speed up the Defence acquisition process… We will soon publish the ‘Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap’, covering a period of 15 years, to share the future needs of our Armed Forces”, Shri Antony said.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of State for Defence, Dr MM Pallam Raju said that the new category of Buy and Make Indian, introduced in the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) – 2009 will facilitate Transfer of Technology. He said that the Defence acquisition needs are now being published with a 15 year future perspective on the Defence Ministry’s website.
The Request for Information (RFI) has been made mandatory for all acquisition cases, Dr. Pallam Raju said. “As a result of the steps that have been taken by the Government in the recent past to reform the Indian Defence Sector, the atmosphere in India is now conducive for attracting more and more investments in Defence R&D”, he added.
Addressing the gathering the Secretary (Defence Production) Shri Raj Kumar Singh said that the growth of the Private Defence Industry since it was opened to the Private sector in 2001 has been encouraging. He said that contracts worth over 8,000 crores have been signed since the offset policy was introduced in the Defence acquisitions.
Wrapping up the proceedings Shri Satyajeet Rajan, Joint Secretary (Electronics) in the Defence Ministry, said that more than ten products are expected to be launched during the exposition.
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mattI don’t recall taking part in that survey but I’d certainly be willing for a small one to be used.
Can i also sign the petition but i wouldnt want it to harm devina, the better half would kill me if she found out i signed such a thing..
mattWould i be too simplistic in assuming that the radar for the iron dome is probably a higher resolution lower range version of something like the green pine?
Also would it be far fetched to believe that they have not gone for goal keeper or phalanx because of the prospects of having stray bullits in a high density population area?
mattTeer, Great post, very informative.
wonder if its possible to put an ability to detect and take automatic counter measures against a SAM on a cruise missile.
Already in existance and already with India and also opfor up north.
http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/aircraft/uav/harpy/HARPY.html
mattTeer,
Appreciate what you have written but I think you’d accept that Land Attack Brahmos is not going to be flying NOE profiles at high mach numbers. Terrain masking from proper ingress route selection is a valid method of screening an inbound, but, proper deployment of GBAD is always to counter any obvious ingress routes. Obviously that is dependent on the tactical environment at the time though.
Fully appreciate reticence to discuss ISTAR. No apologies necessary. You understand the importance of asking the question and the issues left open by the lack of information available on the subject though!.
So buy or develop a MALD equivalent and ramp up SEAD commensurate with the threat. The weakness of S-300 is in ready rounds and reload time. Thats where you hurt it – by feeding it cheap things to kill then murder it when its pants are down.
I appreciate what you say about Brahmos conferring some capacity for SEAD where none exists presently, but, it is a limited solution at best. Double-digit area SAM batteries are significant targets in and of themselves and, if you plan to push slow-mover air into their envelope, you want them thoroughly, and verifiably, attrited beforehand. Not a percentages volley of missiles that may or may not degrade the target!. Its a personal opinion only, of course, but I think that SEAD is one of those things where ‘close enough’ isnt ‘good enough’. If you know the opfor is putting out S-300 batteries you want a full effort to neutralise that capability at the rush.
Lastly I also appreciate what you are saying about this being the top-end of a system-of-systems designed to provide multi-layered indirect fire-support/strike capability for the IN. The proposed system you describe sounds uniformly excellent and entirely in keeping with what the IA should be looking for.
It does, however, validate Matt’s earlier commentry (if he’ll forgive me putting words in his mouth!) that the Brahmos was a very specific and ‘niche’ weapon in the grand scheme of things though!.
It is a lot better put than I could ever and even know how to put.
@Teer;
I am not against Brahmos with the IA full stop, but contrary I do appreciate its usefulness especially in the western theatre.
I hold fast that in the northern front it has a limited use partly due to the terrain, partly due to the stratigic depth, partly due to the fact that India can not hope to win a offensive game and lastly and largely because of the existence of the Second Artillary Corps.
Also, although I can imagine India taking punitive action in the western front (one of the selling points of Brahmos) it can not afford to do so and will not as proven by recently history in the north, even if there were targets in the north which India could identify.
As many have pointed out, to have a war you need two parties to either meet or lob things at each other from afar. For, the first scenario, India to be effective in the north it would be prudent for India to put priority on artillary rocket/traditional and for the second scenario India has just started playing catch up but the Brahmos is not it. India needs a SAC of its own no way around it.
Also for the first scenario India can only aford to play a positive defence game.
As for SEAD if I remember correctly India has just spent a significant budget on buying Israeli drone system which would be more effective and better use of equipment.
mattno sir, of the weapons in our inventory the targets I mentioned can be handled by brahmos and brahmos alone, not by pinaka or anything else. the combat roles are for the most part mutually exclusive.
and ? that’s a little facetious don’t you think ?
Apologies on my part not required.
mattThe GOI knows though, their worth which is why they get funded.
They get funded because the GOI has no other options!
mattNo it doesnt.
The UKs situation is different – the private sector is far more advanced in terms of R&D investment and cooperation with academia in general, than Indian industry.
As things stand, India needs to operate on its own model to its own strengths and constraints, namely allow the likes of L&T, TATA etc enough leeway so they compete with HAL, OFB etc as peers, while retaining DRDO, CSIR and giving them more freedom to execute their programs.
This addresses two vital areas, namely the lack of competition in the manufacturing space, plus building up scale as required. E.g. The Army went to the OFB to ask how many new grenades they could supply (of a new DRDO design), the Army needs 1000,000 per year to replace existing stocks. The OFB replied 50,000.
Similarly, if India had two aircraft production units, there would be attendant advantages.
If it ain’t broke, dont fix it. Whats broken fix that.
But first it needs an aeronautics policy, and a CDS to drive jointness in doctrine, and a new dedicated agency for procurement. The MOD system has failed utterly.
You really have to put a really strong case to say it is not broken. It has been pretty apparent that even for most of the sucessfull projects the DRDO etc have had to go to external companies or countries for help. This is not to say that all of them have been failures.
mattNor me. I reckon the UK may have gone too far with privatisation.
In this case, I think that some parts of the DRDO should stay in government hands. The purely research elements, for example, and those pursuing developments with time horizons which may be too long to interest private industry. But I can’t see any justification for the GoI owning large numbers of manufacturing plants.
Actually what you want to happen in India is not that different to what the UK has already done. Pure research elements have been kept within the government by DSTL. Whilst the TSB and DSTL fund interesting research programs within UK Aerospace and Defense companies. Add to this all the different framework 6, 7 etc etc research projects.
India needs to do to the ADA/DRDO/HAL what you prescribe.
mattwhat you don’t like sarcasm in reply to sarcasm ? 😀
anyway, my point was against your comment that ‘against china brahmos will be an irritant at best’ IMHO is quite a naive assessment or that there are no targets in brahmos’ range, which again, is laughable. how the heck is *any* army supposed to fight a war without sending its ground units ?
surely the PLA is not all 1ultra long range missiles and robot drones that it can conduct an entire war against India without coming into physical proximity or is it ?
used properly, and I mentioned the possible targets, the brahmos can be very useful.
it is a costly PGM and will be used as such by IA and IAF.
Sarcasm if done well can hit the nerve and still get to the point across without being confusing, unfortunately you did it well enough that i got confused. 🙂
You have a point about needing to bring people together for a war to start, which is fine and from some comunity gatherings I have been to I can definately agree to your point. However my point was that those targets that will come towards the border will be better handled by pinaka and artillary and will be more cost effectively dealt by those artillary systems. Last time i checked sniper rifles do not have a reach of 200km+.
please do note that, i do not mean the above to mean that we should not have any Brahmos at all, i mean to mean that we should prioratise for atilary and MBRL’s and worrry about Brahmos for the Army as a third option.
Brahmos missiles carried by mirage or Su-30’s that can hit airfields up north or missiles with long enough range that can hit those targets are something worth buying.
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