Within a span of 35 days the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has test-fired ten of its strategic nuclear and conventional missiles. This fast-track effort of development and testing of missiles by DRDO is to strengthen India’s armoury because of the Indo-China stand-off in our North-East border. Despite the numerous rounds of talks at various levels, China has refused to step back from the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This mounting tension in the border has led to the testing of defence weapons to safeguard the territory of the country.
The following are the missiles tests:
Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV): This is a hypersonic transport aircraft to aid the army troops to move far more quickly to new reinforce positions when there is a threat. This missile works on a hypersonic air-breathing scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) technology. While testing HSTDV, after separating from the launch vehicle, the HSTDV sustained a speed of Mach 6 (six times the speed of sound) during its flight that lasted 22 seconds at an altitude of 30 kilometres. This hypersonic cruise missile flies faster than any fighter can strike its target well before it is intercepted and utterly demolish the target.
The DRDO took around 20 years to develop and test-fly this vehicle. There were many technological challenges faced by DRDO, like while flying the vehicle, air rammed into its engine at high supersonic speeds which made it difficult to simultaneously inject fuel and burn the mixture without the flame being extinguished by the air blast. Secondly the skin of the vehicle gets heated heavily due to the friction created by travelling at a speed of Mach 6. The apt scramjet engine had to be used to combust the flame. The skin had to be rightly chosen to withstand very high temperatures and circulate fluid under the skin to cool it. This delayed the testing of HSTDV.
All the parameters were monitored by multiple tracking radars, electro-optical systems, and telemetry stations while testing the HSTDV and it matched with the performance parameters indicating successful testing of HSTDV.
With the successful testing of HSTDV, DRDO would next start with the designing and testing weapons in the hypersonic category. This would help in air defence surveillance; Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and also in developing missiles with virtually global targeting range. In future this technology can also be used to launch small satellites in a cost-effective manner.
The testing was done on September 7, 2020 from the APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex, off the Odisha coast, and with the successful testing of HSTDV, India joins Russia, USA and China, the only countries which have flown a hypersonic speed vehicle in the atmosphere with a speed of Mach 6.
ABHYAS-High Speed Expendable Aerial Target: ABHYAS is a High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) drone. It has been developed and designed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It was launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore, Odisha on September 22, 2020.
ABHYAS, the drone can act as a target for evaluation of various missile systems, as well as a decoy aircraft, as per the requirement. It has been developed to serve as a training system for improving our current air-defence mechanisms, hence the name – ABHYAS (practice).
As stated by DRDO, the test vehicle maintained a 5 km altitude at a speed of 0.5 Mach (half the speed of sound), along with 2G turn capability. The vehicle was launched with twin underslung boosters. It is powered by a small gas turbine engine and has an Inertial Navigation System (INS) along with a Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control. It has been programmed for fully autonomous flight. The check-out of the vehicle is done using laptop- based Ground Control Station (GCS).
The drone’s main body comprises of five sections: the nose cone, equipment bay, fuel tank bay, air intake bay and tail cone. Glass fibre-reinforced polymer is used for the nose and tail cones. Aluminium-steel alloy is used for the equipment bay, air intake bay and fuel tank.
Before its launch, DRDO had to set right its limitations. Due to its smaller size, the measurement of its centre of gravity and the thrust line had to be set with high accuracy. Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based navigational sensors were used, as they offered the advantages of space and weight.
The initial design preparations for ABHYAS was started in 2012. They used a mini-gas turbine engine which fits inside the diameter of the tow body. Shortly after, a launcher was made to launch ABHYAS by integrating a 68 mm rocket manufactured by the Ordnance factories and further, a wing was included in its design as well. It was initially launched without an engine.
The Radar Cross Section of ABHYAS has been increased by DRDO to 50 times to imitate a fighter jet. This drone can carry warheads, however in its present form this function is not added. Abhyas can also be used to do away with the post-launch recovery mode for Indian Navy, which is time-consuming and difficult in a scenario as the sea. In addition to this it is used for defensive training of surface-to-air missile crews against anti-ship missiles and for development testing and evaluation of air defence systems.
With the development of Abhyas, India has become the only nation to have such high-end multiple use drone technology in the sub-continent.
Laser-Guided Anti-Tank Missile: Another indigenously developed Laser-Guided Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) was developed on October 1, 2020. The trial test of this missile was already done on September 22, 2020. This missile was test fired from third generation main battle tank Arjun at KK Ranges in Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S) in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.
The ATGM was developed by Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune in association with the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune, and Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE), Dehradun.
This missile uses High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) warhead to defeat Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) protected armoured vehicles in a range between 1.5 kilometre and 5 kilometre. Though the technical evaluation trials were done from the gun of MBT Arjun, it is developed with multiple-platform launch capability. During the trials the ATGM successfully defeated a target which was located at 3 kilometres.
This ATGM uses different types of guidance systems including laser, TV cameras, and wire guiding. Some are flexible enough to be used via an aircraft, by the infantry and through land vehicles.
BRAHMOS Missile: Test firing of Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile was earlier test fired on September 30, 2020 as part of the PJ-10 project of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is a surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile. The test-fire for this missile was conducted at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore. On October 18, 2020, once again, India successfully test-fired the naval version of BrahMos from Indian Naval Services (INS), Chennai in the Arabian Sea. It hit the target with pin-point accuracy after performing complex manoeuvres.
The new land-attack cruise missile (LACM) model of BrahMos has an extended range of 400 km which is significantly more than its previous version (290 km). Its speed was maintained at around 2.8 Mach (almost three times the speed of sound). This missile has indigenous Booster and Airframe Section along with many other ‘Made in India’ sub-systems. It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or from land platforms. The BrahMos missile is an essential asset to the Indian Air Force (IAF). It is capable of accurately striking any target at sea or on land independent of time and weather conditions. The IAF plans on installing the BrahMos missiles in more than 40 Sukhoi fighter jets, hence increasing the overall combat capability of the air force.
The name ‘BrahMos’ is a combination of India’s Brahmaputra River and Russia’s Moskva River. The missiles have already been distributed and placed at various strategic locations including the Indo-China border in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. India and Russia are now planning to develop a new generation of Brahmos missile with 600 km-plus range.
Prithvi-II: Prithvi-II is a surface-to-surface nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missile (SRBM). It is also India’s first indigenous surface-to-surface missile. This missile is installed with a high-quality guidance system. This is a nine-metre-long missile with a one-metre diameter and is capable of carrying around one tonne of warhead. It is built with an inertial navigation system with a thrust vector control and aero-dynamic control systems. The missile uses a liquid propulsion twin engine and the warhead uses a radar correlation terminal guidance system.
The testing phase for this missile was conducted on 23rd September, 2020 in the form of a night trial by the Strategic Forces Command of the Indian Army. The night trail was performed at a defence test facility located in Odisha coast. A Mobile Tatra transporter-erector Launcher (MTL) was used for firing the missile. The test fire was conducted at Launching Complex III (LC-III) of the Integrated Test Range (ITR).
The trials for the Prithvi-II missile was conducted just one day after the testing of a Laser Guided Anti-Tank missile using the MBT Arjun battle tank at KK Nagar, Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. The test fire for Prithvi-II was successfully completed with the missile covering almost 300 km during its flight. Radars and electro-optical systems were installed along the coast for monitoring all the parameters of the missile in its entire flight path. The missile was able to reach its target with a very high accuracy.
A second night trial has also been successfully conducted in October, 2020 from the same location. The weapon system achieved a single-digit accuracy reaching close to zero circular error probability (CEP).
The Prithvi-II missile gained importance during the night trials because it is difficult to track and destroy missiles that are fired in the dark. The missile can attack the targets at a range of 350 km and can be fired almost immediately irrespective of the timings or terrain. It was officially inducted into the Armed Forces in 2003 and is being produced since then.
Shaurya Missile: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been relentlessly working towards self-reliance in the field of strategic missiles. On October 3, 2020, India successfully test-fired its indigenous and advanced version of nuclear-capable Shaurya Ballistic Missile.
Shaurya is a medium-range, surface-to-surface nuclear-capable ballistic missile. It has the capability to reach 7.5 Mach (7.5 times the speed of sound). It was tested off the coast of Odisha, and can strike targets at a range of around 800 kilometres. As the missile is lighter and easier to operate it will complement the existing class of missile systems. This missile has the capability to fly at a height of 50 kilometres within the atmosphere. The land variant K-15 Shaurya Missile is significant as it can be launched by a single vehicle.
Shaurya is 10 meters long, 74 centimetres in diameter and weighs 6.2 tonnes. Its two stages use solid propellants. During the test it was tracked by various telemetry stations and radars for checking its performance and accuracy. It can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads up to 1000 kilograms. Once launched, this missile would be difficult to track by radars as the time for detection, tracking and interception is only 400 seconds.
Shaurya has been rated as one of the top 10 missiles in the world as it has high performance navigation and guidance systems, efficient propulsion systems, sophisticated control technologies and cannisterised launch.
India joins the USA, Russia and China who have such technologies to field fast-manoeuvring hypersonic missiles which can fly at lower altitudes yet hard to track and intercept.
Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo, SMART: The SMART is an anti-submarine light-weight torpedo system. The program for developing this technology was initiated in the mid-2010s in order to overcome the limitations of self-propelled torpedoes since they lacked the range of attack.
On October 5, 2020, India successfully tested the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) system for the first time. It is anti-submarine machine with a much higher range. The technology for developing the SMART system involved a number of laboratories from various locations including Defence Research Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), Agra, and Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Vishakhapatnam.
This was tested from the Wheeler Island of the Odisha Coast. All the goals that were set as part of the testing, including missile flight up to the range and altitude, separation of the nose cone, release of torpedo and deployment of Velocity Reduction Mechanism (VRM), were fulfilled.
Tracking stations, radars, electro-optical systems were set up on various locations along the coast in order to monitor the test phase. One of the most significant features of SMART is that it combines the technologies of two different weapon systems – a supersonic missile and a torpedo. This makes it faster and stealthier. The SMART has a considerably long range of over 600 kilometres.
When it is fired, it will initially fly like a supersonic missile at a low altitude and will then, eject the torpedo into the water as it approaches its target. The torpedo is what strikes the target. This SMART system will play a critical role in countering maritime menace faced by India.
The supersonic missile assisted torpedo will help India extending the range of anti-submarine light weight torpedoes. Moreover it will help India in combatting growing submarine threat from China and Pakistan.
It is believed that the USA and Russia have already developed rocket-assisted torpedoes. China too is believed to have been working on rocket-assisted torpedo technology over the years.
Rudram: On October 9, 2020, India successfully test fired its indigenous air-to-surface anti-radiation Missile—‘Rudram’. It is developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The design and development of Rudram was done by Defence Research Development Laboratory (DRDL) along with Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DERL), High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL). Private sector players were hired for subsystem level developmental works for this project. Its integration with fighter jets was done with the help of Software Labs of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and National Trisonic Aerodynamic Facilities (NTAF) division of National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru.
Rudram has a range of 100-250 kilometres and is integrated now with fighter jet Sukhoi Su-30MKI. It uses proximity fuse to detonate an explosive device automatically and its destruction capacity is 5–10 times more than the capacities of other fuses. It is powered by pulse rocket motor which allows the motor to be burned in segments (or pulses) that burn until completion of that segment. It has the capability to target mobile integrated air-defence system as well as radar station that can shut down on its own to avoid its detection.
Rudram has INS-GPS navigation with Passive Homing Head for the final attack. With this it can detect, classify and engage radiofrequency sources over a wide band of frequencies as programmed. It is designed in such a way to detect, locate and destroy enemy air defence radars, communication systems and any other radio frequency sources which are a part of the enemy’s defence systems. Rudram missile has the capability to strike on the target even if the radiation source switches off in between.
DRDO and IAF are working to integrate Rudram with Dassault Mirage 2000, Jaguar, Tejas, Mark 2 in future. Once integrated it can be carried by any specialist fighter jet aircraft that accompany airstrikes to perform the SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defence) mission. This has been developed mainly to be used as a potent weapon to enhance the SEAD requirement of IAF.
With the test-firing of Rudram, India has joined USA, Russia, Brazil, China, UK, and Iran who have indigenous anti-radiation missiles in their defence weaponry.