Indian Missiles - News, Developments, Tests, and Discussions

[Ammyy]

Guys has Shaurya missile enter into production ???

Many times DRDO chief disclose this

 

[BoB's]

Missile to get smarter & lighter with onboard desi chip.

Indian missiles are set to go lighter and smarter with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on the verge of launching a System on Chip (SOC) component, to be embedded on to the onboard computer (OBC). The SOC will give a tech advantage to the scientists to either increase the range of the missile or the warhead, depending upon the mission. The processing speed also will go up by 6-7 times with SOC.

A five-member team of young scientists with average nine years of experience are eagerly waiting for the final product, which will replace the PCB-based hardware consisting of various integrated components (IC) on single board. A missile typically carries huge number of such ICs making the total weight of the OBC close to 4-5 kilograms. The SOC with its power supply unit and connecters will weigh less than 200 grams.

DRDO scientists claim that it will be for the first time India will equip its missiles with such state-of-the-art component, though the US, Israel and China have made inroads in similar technologies. SOC will be a match-box size unit with high computing intense application and very low power requirement. The efficiency of the missile will also be increased by many folds.
S K Ray, Director, Research Centre Imarat (RCI), tells Express that miniatirisation of systems makes the missile high-performance in nature. “Smaller avionics means, more options for warhead with more propulsion. Ours chips can be used for avionics applications in future too and we have a huge cost advantage having made them indigenously. It will be an integral part of all future navigation and homing guidance seekers,” says Ray.

DRDO hopes to get the first block of SOCs in December and later test it the on short-range air-to-air Astra missile by mid-2012. Astra – a BVR (Beyond Visual Range) missile – will be initially integrated with Su-30 MKI and later on Tejas and MiG-29.

B H V S Narayana Murthy, Director, Real-Time Embedded Computers, RCI, says that the might of India’s futuristic missiles will largely depend on miniaturization of onboard systems. “The key developing smaller and efficient components and India is in striking distance in achieving this. Tactical missiles will be the biggest beneficiaries and we are now aiming to standardize and offer SOC to more platforms in future,” Murthy said.

The SOC is a project being undertaken by RCI, jointly with the Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group (ANURAG) – both DRDO labs based in Hyderabad. The Real-Time Embedded Computer Directorate under RCI has tasked the SOC development to its Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) wing. Though the Rs 32-crore project was sanctioned in December 2005, with a four-year deadline to deliver the product, sources attribute the slippage of two years to the technology challenges involved in developing low-power SOCs.

 

[BoB's]

Industries must propel India's missile projects: DRDL chief | Minimum 2 vendors must be chosen for every project | DRDO should not put unrealistic targets

DRDL Director P. Venugopalan was very candid during a one-to-one with Express

Hit by delays and accusations of being a 'non-delivering' unit from the Services and the media, India's Defence and Research and Development Oragnisation (DRDO) seems to have finally woken up. The opening up of the defence sector and the touchdown of more players into the arena, have probably got them closer to the truth that they need the massive backing of India's public and private industries, to bail them out of the slow-syndrome.
PART-3
P Venugopalan, Director, of Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) tells Express that the DRDO needs multiple agencies to propel the missile programmes. “Be it strategic or tactical in nature, we want more agencies in India to absorb the technologies and produce the missiles in large numbers. Private industry should come into missile technologies in a big way. The success of Akash missile system is a classic example of private sector participation. We have no production mandate, except in strategic missiles," he said. Currently, the tactical missiles are produced in bulk by Hyderbad-based Bharat Dynamics Limited.
Venugopalan said that a minimum of two vendors will have to be identified for every project. "This will ensure quality and on-time deliveries. We want to be a major player, where ever there's a joint development. We have the confidence now. Joint development has minimum risk too," he said.
Batting for automated manufacturing technologies in missile production, the DRDO's 'Outstanding Scientist' said that a fast-track line production should come to the fore. "We can't fund the private sector in a big way as the government policies don't allow us now. We should be given the freedom to chose between private and public sector in a transparent manner. The Indian Space Research Organisation does it. Some guidelines can be put in to identify private industries so as to evaluate their capabilities. Hand-holding is the key and we are ready to travel a long way with the industries," he said.
When asked why DRDO's missile programmes were always running behind the schedules, Venugopalan felt the need for a new thought-process while planning missile production. "We tend to give short-time schedules and this needs to be changed. Right now we don't have a choice to go for multiple agencies. Private industries want firm orders as the investments are huge. Development and production planning has to be concurrent. Our development cycle is shortening. The change in defence policy also has also helped," he said.
He said the Services have started to repose faith in DRDO, from a 'no-faith scenario' of the past. "From a time when the DRDO was highly mistrusted, there's a sudden change in the way people and Services look at us. We can't put unrealistic targets. Next 10 years, more than 10,000 tactical missiles need to produced at a cost of Rs 80,000 crore. The only way to get deliveries on time and good will is to get into a production tie-up with major industry partners. Industry must have a strong R&D group too," he said.
He wanted the government to get a long-term commitment from the Services, while ordering home-grown systems. "There are lots of problems with the life-cycle support for the imported missiles," he said

 

[BoB's]

TERMINAL GUIDANCE: Made in India seekers dressed up for fire play

Missile scientists of Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in Hyderabad are ready with studs that will sit pretty on the nose of India's future missiles. These Made in India studs – popularly known as radar seekers – ensure terminal guidance and single-shot kill probability (SSKP) for the missiles. It is now confirmed that a long-range anti-ballistic missile seeker is currently cajoled before it's unleashed for India's big-ticket spit-fire show – Programme Air Defence (AD).
Scientists who might have been given a brief not to revel much to this 'Express-Seeker', shared in bits and pieces that the new seeker will undergo tests in 2012 before getting onboard Programme AD, during exo-atmospheric intercepts. A milli-metric wave, all-weather capability seeker was recently successfully flight-tested on anti-tank Nag missile. “Currently, both seekers (against a battle tanks and against missiles\aircraft) are undergoing a series of tests to prove its performance in a simulated environment and could be launched in a missile within one year,” sources said.
A seeker eats up 60 per cent of a missile's cost and the transmitter polishes off a major chunk of a seeker's cost. “We are in the development phase and are making six seekers. The current tests include performance in temperature, vibration, shock and HILS (hardware in loop simulation). The range of the seeker depends upon the diameter of the antenna. The seeker dimension largely depends upon the target, which is small for an aircraft and large for a missile. What is most crucial is whether a seeker can deliver SSKP,” sources said.
The Radar Seeker Test Facility (RASTEF) at RCI resembles a Hollywood recording studio with the anechoic chamber sure to stun a first-time visitor. Seekers in the next five years would have electronic beam steering, configurable processors so that it can take on a variety of targets. “They could work in dense electromagnetic environment, networked environment and carry out multiple functions of the missile like fuzing. Further down the line there would be seekers working in different electromagnetic bands of operation to beat deception as well as improve accuracies,” sources said.
Currently the world leaders in missile seekers are Agat (Russia), Thales (France), Raytheon, Boeing (US)and Felex (Italy). It is a worthy wait as India masters the art of making seekers – one of the most denied missile technologies in the world. The cost of an imported seeker is Rs 2 crore and upwards and the Indian version is claimed to be 60-70 per cent lesser.
A technology denied, is a technology derived? Well, India might be almost there!

 

[angeldemon_007]

^^^
I think we need to put some more money on seeker development or we should just go on and purchase a smaller company may be Agat or Felex. I think some Israeli company must have the expertise and we should either set up a JV or buy it up.

 

[praveen007]

TERMINAL GUIDANCE: Made in India
seekers dressed up for fire play
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Tarmak007 -- A bold blog on Indian defence: TERMINAL GUIDANCE: Made in India seekers dressed up for fire play
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++

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Bangalore/Hyderabad: Missile scientists of Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in Hyderabad are ready with studs that will sit pretty on the nose of India's future missiles. These Made in India studs – popularly known as radar seekers – ensure terminal guidance and single-shot kill probability (SSKP) for the missiles. It is now confirmed that a long-range anti-ballistic missile seeker is currently cajoled before it's unleashed for India's big-ticket spit-fire show – Programme Air Defence (AD).
Scientists who might have been given a brief not to revel much to this 'Express-Seeker', shared in bits and pieces that the new seeker will undergo tests in 2012 before getting onboard Programme AD, during exo-atmospheric intercepts. A milli-metric wave, all-weather capability seeker was recently successfully flight-tested on anti-tank Nag missile. “Currently, both seekers (against a battle tanks and against missiles\aircraft) are undergoing a series of tests to prove its performance in a simulated environment and could be launched in a missile within one year,” sources said.
A seeker eats up 60 per cent of a missile's cost and the transmitter polishes off a major chunk of a seeker's cost. “We are in the development
phase and are making six seekers. The current tests include performance in temperature, vibration, shock and HILS (hardware in loop simulation). The range of the seeker depends upon the diameter of the antenna. The seeker dimension largely depends upon the target, which is small for an aircraft and large for a missile. What is most crucial is whether a seeker can deliver SSKP,” sources said.
The Radar Seeker Test Facility (RASTEF) at RCI resembles a Hollywood recording studio with the anechoic chamber sure to stun a first-time visitor.
Seekers in the next five years would have
electronic beam steering, configurable processors so that it can take on a variety of targets. “They could work in dense electromagnetic environment, networked environment and carry out multiple functions of the missile like fuzing.
Further down the line there would be seekers working in different electromagnetic bands of operation to beat deception as well as improve accuracies,” sources said.
Currently the world leaders in missile seekers are Agat (Russia), Thales (France), Raytheon, Boeing (US)and Felex (Italy). It is a worthy wait as India masters the art of making seekers – one of the most denied missile technologies in the world.
The cost of an imported seeker is Rs 2 crore and upwards and the Indian version is claimed to be 60-70 per cent lesser.
A technology denied, is a technology derived?
.
Well, India might be almost there!.

 

[sudhir007]

 

[kuttahukthu]

hmm, good information great source, put more details

 

[White Lightning]

India Tests Ballistic Missile Interceptor




India has test-fired a domestically developed interceptor missile capable of destroying ballistic missiles, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday.

The Advanced Air Defense (AAD) interceptor missile was fired from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha in eastern India early on Friday and destroyed the target.

The target was a modified surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile Prithvi, which was fired from the Chandipur range located some 70 km away from Wheeler Island across the sea.

“The interceptor directly hit the target and destroyed it,” S.P. Dash, the director of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, was quoted as saying.

The test was aimed at developing India's multi-layer Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system. The last time India successfully tested an AAD interceptor missile was on March 6, 2011.

Source: NEW DELHI, 10 February 2012 - RIA Novosti News (RIA Novosti) & XAIRFORCES - Aviation Society

Photo: India has test-fired a domestically developed interceptor missile capable of destroying ballistic missiles (Photo by © AFP/ HO / Ministry of Defence)

 

[Paan Singh]

 

[RPK]

IBNLive : Saurav Jha's Blog : Propfan engine for DRDO's Nirbhay cruise missile?


It is often remarked that the only thing missing in India's missile portfolio is a subsonic cruise missile akin to the BGM-109G Tomahawk ground launched cruise missile (GLCM) deployed by the Americans in the eighties. Fortunately, 2012 seems to be the year when this is set to change with several reports of DRDO's Nirbhay being shortly unveiled. One report is particularly noteworthy - TS Subramanian's 'Nirbhay likely to be testfired in April' in this Wednesday's The Hindu.

The story talks about the Nirbhay being a two-stage missile with the second stage powered by a turboprop engine. While the first part is simple enough - the two stages are obviously a reference to the solid booster (which is the 'first stage') used by the Nirbhay when it is launched from the ground; it is the second 'salient feature' that bothered me, i.e the part about the Nirbhay being powered by a turboprop engine during the cruise phase.

Cruise missiles in their 80-year history (considering the WW2 Luftwaffe V-I flying bomb as the first true cruise missile) have been powered by pulsejets, ramjets, turbojets and turbofans with the last two being the propulsive configuration of choice for missiles in Nirbhay's category, but never really by turboprops, unless of course you consider the MQ-9 Reaper to be a cruise missile, during a one-way suicide mission!

Assuming that the turboprop reference is not a typo there is one possibility that may be the real source of this reported feature. Certain experimental designs in the past have used propfans (also known as open flux rotor jet engines) to propel cruise missiles. In the last decade there were reports of a variant of the the latest generation of subsonic Russian cruise missiles of the Kh-101/102 family being propelled by a propfan .

Although it was later mentioned that this effort had been cancelled in 2000. Prior to this, the Americans had tried out propfan configurations on a tomahawk-like design under the long-range conventional standoff weapon (LRCSW) program spearheaded by NASA in 1989.

The attractiveness of propfans stems from the fact that they combine a gas turbine engine with propeller technology in a much more efficient way than turboprops do. Propfans thereby approximate the speed performance of turbofans while exhibiting fuel economy better than that of turboprops. A propfan powered Nirbhay therefore ties in well with the missile's loiter capability emphasized in the report.

Thus there is a possibility that the turboprop propulsive unit reported by The Hindu may actually be a misunderstood reference to a propfan engine. And if it is indeed a turboprop engine akin to an aircraft's that the Nirbhay possesses, then the missile in all probability will turn out to be very different from what it has been imagined by observers to be thus far. Either way, we'll find out soon enough.

 

[angeldemon_007]

And if it is indeed a turboprop engine akin to an aircraft's that the Nirbhay possesses, then the missile in all probability will turn out to be very different from what it has been imagined by observers to be thus far. Either way, we'll find out soon enough.

Thats true....It will become more like a UAV just like Israeli Harop

 

[BoB's]

Agni-5 to be test-fired next month: DRDO Chief

India will soon enter the elite club of nations having the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) capability with the Agni-5 getting ready for its first test launch next month. "The first flight of the Agni-V missile is likely to take place next month," DRDO Chief V K Saraswat said here today. The agency is in the final stages of integration of the missile and its components taking place in a DRDO lab in Hyderabad and the equipment required to study the flight of the missile and its accuracy are being put in place. Preparations are also in full swing at the test facility in Wheeler island and other labs which will participate in the launch. Saraswat while talking to reporters earlier this month had said that all the development and industry partners participating in the programme will be present during the first test flight of the missile to witness the test launch. DRDO plans to conduct more such tests of the missile over the next one year after studying and analysing the parameters achieved in each subsequent trial. On the timeline fixed for fully developing the Agni-5, Saraswat had said that another one year of testing will be involved. In November last year, DRDO had successfully test fired the 3,500 km range Agni-4 missile giving muscle to India's deterrent capability against the military adversaries

 

[Yeti]

BrahMos fully operational with 2 Army regiments

New Delhi: Indigenously developed BrahMos cruise missile system having a strike range of 290 kms, has become fully operational with two regiments of the Indian Army, government told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

In a written reply, Defence Minister A K Antony said,

The flight trial was carried out on March 4, 2012 by the Second Regiment of the BrahMos Army Unit for operationalisation of the regiment in desert warfare, after training of the personnel.

"With this test firing, the BrahMos Missile System is fully operational with two regiments of the Army," he said.


He was asked whether the BrahMos missile was test fired and its details thereof.

Informing the House on the test firing conducted by Army, the Defence Minister said, "BrahMos Missile System with launchers, mobile command post with its control and communication systems had been fully deployed by the Army in operational mode and the missile was fired".

Replying to a question on indigenous production of defence equipment, Antony said the defence public sector units are taking various initiatives to encourage indigenous participation in defence production and to widen the defence industrial base.


"These include development of indigenous vendors, registration of new vendors, policy initiative for greater private sector participation and outsourcing in their production programme," he said.

 

[born]

Any news on Nirbhay . There was some news about nirbhay to be tested in april.