I dont take this IDRW at pace value, but cant simply ignore the content.
The author is right about the missile development as fas as India is concerned.
IT took us 20 years to develop and produce the first prithvi missile with a range of 150km and 1000kg payload, while the A-V took 3.2 yrs with a range of over 5000km and 2500+kg payload.
This alone showcases how matured is Indian missile development process.
Another interesting thing is ABM development while it took 8 years to fire the first shot of AAD,it took less than 3 years to develop PDV.( P.S PDV design is completed,reviewed and ground tested,waiting for live testing phase) and assuming same 3 years or less will take for the complete design to ground testing of AAD1 and AAD2 thereby India will be able to finish the development trials of Phase-II ABM project.
It is astounding that how the dividends paid out in such a rich manner when someone considers the time taken to develop Akash missile and Brahmos to LRCM( long range supersonic cruise missile) not to be confused with Nirbhay(sub-sonic CM).
The much needed LRCM design phase is completed with ground testing underway. The reason why I mentioned Akash, Brahmos and LRCM is that, they are all ramjet versions with supersonic speeds. The airlaunched article will be a long range supersonic CM totally designed in house unlike Brahmos which borrows liquid fueled ramjet tech from Yakhont(russia)
LRCM objective is achieving speeds of ~Mach 2 with ranges of over 1500km with a 300kg warhead( can be nuclear/conventional)
Airframe design and review is completed with subsequent ground testing underway.Uses Mig-25 sorta fuselage/airframe with DRDO developed terrain mapping system currently in use with Brahmos-I MKIII( it has to do scene correlations/terrain mappings at supersonic speeds)
And one tid-bit that many here(especially Indians) like to hear is the new ICBM in the name of A-VI. An all new missile( not to be confused with A-V clone). A-VI will sports an all composite stage(3 stage like A-V) but with large diameter ~2.3-2.4 mts. The same dia motor also goes into the SLBM version of Agni.Design and realization is completed(cant talk about testing).
And the much awaited weapon into the Indian arsenal, The Nirbhay long range sub-sonic CM will be flight tested soon with induction into forces in 2015. Two varriants are being planed. One with 1000-1500km range and the MKII with upto 2500km range. MKII will be inducted after 2 years of MKI induction. Both will have air launched variants and are nuclear/conventional capable.
Apart from this the much high-profile land attack and anti-ship variant Brahmos-2 the hypersonic slaughter will finish its design review/realization in next 2 years with subsequent testing. One has to note that, currently there are 2 hypersonic versions running in parallel. One is under the guidance of Brahmos company(DRDO-Russia) and other under completely under DRDO.Since the primary one will be limited to 300km range and 300kg payload(due to MTCR as Russia is a signatory), the secondary will take care of extended range/payload.
When it comes to AAM role DRDO will be firing Astra MKI from MKI before the end of this year, while the Astra MKII will take another 2 years.(Note:Astra MKII AAM will have a range of over 120km)
And the life line of Navy and land forces, the long range SAM system LRSAM will be inducted by 2015 with both airforce/army and Navy variants.
Honey Dip: Navy has envinced its interest in the development of sea based ABM.So the Phase-II development will consider the Navy requirements with new radar systems developed in both considerations. AADI/AADII missiles will get an universal ship based launcher as well.These will go onto the P-15B class of DDG. The primary reason being the future threat of ASBM`s from China. So P-15B with ABM role will be lead pack of CGB for IN. P-15B will fall between the class of cruisers and destroyers.
To summarize the current missiles in development or planned
LRCM (Long range supersonic CM)
Nirbhay MKI
Nirbhya MKII
Brahmos-2
Long range hypersonic cruise missile(A variant of re-usable hypersonic missile)
LR-SAM
MR-SAM
AAD
PAD
PDV(PDV will replace PAD under phase-I of ABM project for taking on BM`s with range< 2000km)
AAD-I
AAD-II
K-IV
A-V(All composite stage)
A-VI
A-VI SLBM(SLBM version of A-IV will be named K-VI later-on after development phase)
K-15(Sagarika)
Shourya
Prahar
Astra MKI
Astra MKII
HELINA MKI ( 7-10km range)
HELINA MKII( with range of over 20km)
ARM( based on Akash missile solid ramrocket with range of over 120km)
Though the DRDO was tight lipped but was selectively leaked to fan boys was the Anti-A/C variant of Sagarika/shourya. According to some reports this Indian version of aircraft carrier killer was tested to a range of 1950km with ~300kg warhead under high terminal maneuvering mode. This will be the Indian hypersonic answer to chinese DF-21A.
Shourya/Sagarika comes with a powered boost glide RV.This is an MaRV in SSM role. For AShM role the payload was reduced to accommodate a radar seeker and a high explosive warhead. It comes in quad canisters for ship based variants. Might get onboard P-15B with IN showing relatively high interest in the system.
These are the relative known developmental projects. As there are a couple of under-cover projects as well.
The most interesting thing about all these above specified projects/developments is that their gestation periods. The developmental times are shrinking down drastically. It took 6 years for AAD compared to 3 years for PDV and relatively same for AAD-I/II.
All the above ones started from 2001 with AAD/PAD being the oldest of all.
If we assume the same pace of development, India will be 100% self-contained in the development of all kinds of Missiles and systems for any role. I SAID ANY ROLE.