Indian Missiles - News, Developments, Tests, and Discussions

[RPK]

ISRO to outsource rocket-work to private companies- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

BANGALORE: For the first time since the success of India's maiden unmanned moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is ready to outsource more high-end work to private companies — everything from building more complicated systems to assembling it.

According to aerospace industry officials and others familiar with the discussions, proposals are being readied wherein private participation will be invited to build and run competing systems.

The commercial-aerospace industry is now eager to play a larger role in the space missions and tap the outsourcing work offered by ISRO which has an annual budget of $1.01 billion for 2009-2010. It has a spending blueprint of Rs 12,400 crore ($3 billion) for its manned space exploration and around Rs 425 crore will be spent for the second unmanned lunar mission — Chandrayaan-2. It also has huge spending plans for missions to Mars and various domestic and international satellite launches.

This is particularly relevant as India has now stepped up the number of satellites it sends into space. ISRO's senior space scientist George Koshy who had also worked on Chandrayaan-1 as mission director for PSLV, says: "Earlier, we used to do one launch in two-three years. Now, we do tree-five PSLV launches alone in a year. For that, we need more low-cost manpower and better collaborations.” Koshy says the confidence other countries are reposing on Indian capability to make good satellites is increasing and they need more private partners to share the work load. "We work at just 15-20% of the cost spent by the US on their missions,” he says.


He said ISRO will launch advanced remote sensing and earth observation satellites such as Cartosat along with three other satellites from countries like Algeria and Canada in the first quarter of 2010 and Resourcesat-2, which will monitor resources in the country next year.

Aerospace firms such as Taneja Aerospace and Aviation (Taal), which counts ISRO among its top customers said that it is seeing more high-end work coming to them.

SM Kapoor, chief executive (aerostructures) of Taal, said that it had developed a critical structure to be used in Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to ISRO last week. This structure was instrumental in taking the load of the vehicle and connecting the various stages of the PSLV.

"Earlier, we outsourced smaller work, but now we have stepped up the complexity of the work outsourced to private firms. In space structures, we have got very little margins. One small error or a small weakness in one part can result in the failure of the whole mission,” says George Koshy.

ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) deputy director PP Sinha said that outsourcing has reached a level where companies are even doing assembling work at the system and stage levels and not just at the component level. "We are moving up the value chain and gearing up to provide avionics and electronics to customers like ISRO. They are efficient in terms of on-time payment and business support,” Taal managing director CS Kameswaran said

IT giant Wipro said it is in discussions with ISRO to provide software and electronics for projects like the Chandrayaan-2 mission.


"We are in discussions with ISRO to collaborate in the area of robotic design, as they plan to land a motorised rover or robot on the Moon by 2013,” Wipro's vice-president for aerospace and defence Shiva Kumar Tonthanahal told ET. "We are present in the software, product engineering and R&D spaces and now Wipro is gearing up to be ready in aerospace manufacturing by 2010,” he said.

People familiar with ISRO's outsourcing strategy said that tech firms such as TCS and Infosys are talking to ISRO to provide their engineering design services.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), India's biggest engineering company, said that it is making significant contributions to ISRO's space launch vehicles. "We had started by making small components. Today, the complete motor is built by us which includes it testing. We will be making significant contributions to the development of ISRO's next 20 satellites," says L&T vice-president Jayant D Patil. L&T had made significant contributions in the development of the last 15 satellites.

He said L&T along with DMRL has designed specific reactors for ISRO's plant in Kerala to indigenously produce titanium sponge, which is a scare raw material and has to be imported. "It is used in the production of aerospace grade titanium, which will be one of the strategic materials for important projects in future," he said.

Genser Aerospace & Information Technologies chief executive Arunakar Mishra says that as ISRO is becoming more of an integrator, they can adopt contract manufacturing model where they need not scout for suppliers and thus concentrate only on the mission.

Aerospace firm HAL's chairman Ashok Nayak said that even though they manufacture entire outside structure of PSLV and GSLV-II, they are getting strong support from small and medium industries who are getting majority of ISRO's components, while the integration is done at HAL. "The field is slowly getting open to everyone. We are willing to take the support of the private industry because that is the only way the country can prosper".

 

[sudhir007]

Agni-II test deferred - Bhubaneswar - City - The Times of India

BALASORE: The much-awaited test of the Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) Agni-II has been deferred till next week due to some technical snags. The 2,000-km plus range missile was scheduled to be test-fired from the Wheelers' Island off the Orissa coast this weekend.
Sources at the integrated test range (ITR) in Chandipur here on Wednesday said the test, to be undertaken by the army with logistic support from the DRDO, has been postponed owing to "some technical snags in the pneumatic system of the missile".
"The problem is being sorted out by scientists at a Hyderabad-based laboratory. Once it is solved, a fresh schedule will be fixed for the test. If it takes some more time, then the test may be further deferred," the source added.
Agni-II is 21 meters long, with a diameter of 1.3 meters and weighs 19 tonnes. It is designed to carry "special weapons" nuclear payload of over 1,000 kg. It has already been inducted in the army and will be used by its 555th missile group.

Sources said hectic preparations were on at the Wheelers' Island for the past few weeks for the test of the powerful indigenously developed missile.

 

[Chanakyaa]

Agni-II test deferred ? surprise !!

Well, better luck next time.

Firstly The test was to be conducted by Army Not the DRDO/Scientists.
That adds to the delay attached.

Secondly, as it occoured in the Bhahmos case where one test failed due to NEW GUIDANCE system, later was 100% success ; some changes are made to the system which improve it.

Thats the meaning of a Test - Improvement and New Things dont always work.
Its Not like Taking a Missile out of ur store Firing it for amusement and saying - The test was successful. We Knew that before the Test.

I hope they sort it out, Agini II has been tested several Times and its a small thing for scientists where each year 2-3 COMMERCIAL Rockets are launched ( Both share the same tech ).

 

[third eye]

Firstly The test was to be conducted by Army Not the DRDO/Scientists.
That adds to the delay attached.

Secondly, as it occoured in the Bhahmos case where one test failed due to NEW GUIDANCE system, later was 100% success ; some changes are made to the system which improve it.

Thats the meaning of a Test - Improvement and New Things dont always work.
Its Not like Taking a Missile out of ur store Firing it for amusement and saying - The test was successful. We Knew that before the Test.

I hope they sort it out, Agini II has been tested several Times and its a small thing for scientists where each year 2-3 COMMERCIAL Rockets are launched ( Both share the same tech ).

Do not waste your time explaining things to ppl who are here only to derive pleasure in others problems with no heed for what happens at their end.

A large No of ppl here are a part of the ' Gloat in others discomfiture club".

 

[sudhir007]

Astra air-to-air missile makes first flight - Pune - City - The Times of India

The captive flight trials of Astra — India’s first indigenously-developed beyond visual range air-to-air missile — were successfully carried
out on Sukhoi-30MKI combat aircraft at the Air Force Station here last week. The trials, which are still under way at the Lohegaon air base, are the first since the missile development programme began in 2004. The live firing of the missile from the aircraft is expected to happen next year.

Parameters such as aeromechanical and structural compatibility between the missile and the aircraft, vibration, strain and high-speed manoeuvring are being tested during the trials. Around 15 sorties have been planned. The aircraft carries the missile on its wing.

The Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) is spearheading the missile development programme. Various other defence labs, air force units, the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) also have roles to play in the programme.

 

[Bullhead]

Astra air-to-air missile makes first flight

The captive flight trials of Astra — India’s first indigenously-developed beyond visual range air-to-air missile — were successfully carried out on Sukhoi-30MKI combat aircraft at the Air Force Station here last week. The trials, which are still under way at the Lohegaon air base, are the first since the missile development programme began in 2004. The live firing of the missile from the aircraft is expected to happen next year.

Parameters such as aeromechanical and structural compatibility between the missile and the aircraft, vibration, strain and high-speed manoeuvring are being tested during the trials. Around 15 sorties have been planned. The aircraft carries the missile on its wing.

The Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) is spearheading the missile development programme. Various other defence labs, air force units, the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) also have roles to play in the programme.

Astra air-to-air missile makes first flight - Pune - City - The Times of India

 

[Tejas-MkII]

Already posted but i think this is the right place to post this news...

Army warms up to Akash missile

Army warms up to Akash missile

Ajai Shukla / Hyderabad November 07, 2009, 0:34 IST



India’s long-criticised Akash anti-aircraft missile is now blazing towards success. Its counterparts in the DRDO’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, the Prithvi and Agni ballistic missiles, were on target from the start; the anti-tank Nag missile will also enter service shortly; the Trishul short-range anti-aircraft missile was abandoned unceremoniously. Now, after years of rejection from the military, the Akash is being accepted as a world-class missile.


The IAF’s order last year for two Akash squadrons — dismissed by sceptics as a face-saving burial for the Akash programme — has just been doubled with a fresh IAF order for 16 more launchers that will be stationed in northeast India. And now, Business Standard has accessed even better news for the Akash programme: the Indian Army is considering ordering several Akash squadrons for its ground forces.

The DRDO’s Chief Controller for R&D, Prahlada, has confirmed that the army is displaying fresh interest in the Akash. Asked for details, Prahlada told Business Standard, “I cannot say whether the army is interested in the Akash for its strike corps, or for another role. In any case, the Akash is a mobile system that is suitable for various roles.”

But protecting fast-moving tank columns from enemy fighters is what the Akash does best. For years the DRDO laboured to fit the entire Akash system — including radars, missile launchers and command centres — into T-72 tanks. This provided the Akash with the cross-country mobility to advance deep into enemy territory along with Indian Army strike corps, shooting down enemy fighters at ranges as far out as 25 kilometres.

Planned as a replacement for the army’s obsolescent Russian SAM-6 Kvadrat, the heart of an Akash missile battery is the Hyderabad-developed Rajendra phased-array radar that tracks up to 64 enemy fighter aircraft simultaneously, in a radius of 60 kilometres. The mobile command centre selects up to four of the most threatening air targets, and two Akash missiles are fired at each from the T-72 based Akash launchers, which move alongside. The Rajendra radar continuously guides the missiles, eventually “flying” them smack into the enemy fighters.

Theoretically, a “ripple” of two Akash missiles has a 99 per cent chance of shooting down a modern fighter aircraft. Practically, however, in 9 live Akash trials so far, all 9 missiles that were fired hit their targets. Videos of the firing trials, witnessed by Business Standard, show the Akash missiles smashing their targets into tiny fragments at ranges beyond 20 kilometres.

The DRDO has taken 20 years to develop the cross-country mobile, tank-mounted version of the Akash missile system that the army is now interested in. Criticism of this delay has been vocal, but the DRDO counters by pointing to the quality of its product: the Akash, says the DRDO, is the only system of its kind available globally.

A top DRDO scientist at the missile complex in Hyderabad points out, “Western countries like France, which make missiles in the technological league of the Akash, don’t mount the entire system on a tank, something that the Indian Army insists on. Only the Russians build tank-mounted missile systems, but their missile technology is far inferior to that of the Akash. All that the Russians can offer today is the next generation of the Kvadrat.”

The defence PSU, Bharat Electronics Limited, is the nodal production agency for the Akash missile system, supported by a broad consortium of Indian public and private sector manufacturers who contribute components and sub-systems. Bharat Dynamics Limited manufactures the solid-fuel, two-stage, ramjet Akash missile itself.

 

[brahmastra]

India’s Missile Programme: Augmenting Firepower

http://drdo.org/dpi/2009/oct09.pdf

 

[Tejas-MkII]

Fresh anti-ballistic missile tests soon - dnaindia.com

Fresh anti-ballistic missile tests soon

Aditya Phatak / DNAThursday, November 12, 2009 3:58 IST

Mumbai: Fresh tests of the endo-atmospheric anti-ballistic missile system may be conducted in December-January, VK Saraswat, scientific advisor to the defence minister, said on Wednesday.

"The first phase of the missile defence shield has been going on for years now and fresh tests are likely in December-January," he said at a seminar on fuel cell technology.

The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), which Saraswat heads, aims to develop interceptors that can destroy intermediate-range ballistic missiles. In phase-II, DRDO will develop missiles to neutralise inter-continental ballistic missiles. The phase, however, is in the design stage.

 

[ssheppard]

India's Akash missile gets another order

NEW DELHI, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The Indian army is set to order an unspecified number of Akash anti-aircraft missiles to replace its aging Russian SAM-6 Kvadrat air defense missile system.

The missile system is for the T-72 main battle tank and has a Hyderabad-developed Rajendra phased-array radar capable of tracking up to 64 aircraft simultaneously over a radius of just under 40 miles. It can shoot down aircraft within 15 miles, according to Indian media reports.

The Akash is part of India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. Its main target will be use against attacks from unmanned combat aerial vehicles including Cruise missiles and aircraft.

The order is another win for the BEL consortium set up in January 2008 by two Indian public sector companies -- Bharat Dynamics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd. -- and which included private-sector firms specifically to manufacture the medium-range Akash missiles.

BEL tied up with Larsen & Toubro, Tata Power, Walchand Industries and ECIL. But Bharat Dynamics is the actual manufacturer of the solid-fuel, two-stage, ramjet Akash missile.

BEL signed its first major order in January this year when the Indian air force placed an order for two squadrons of the missile, according to a report in the national newspaper The Hindu.

The newspaper also noted that the Indian air force had had performance reservations about the missile. Specifically, the air force wanted a smaller, lighter missile with a longer range and that was more maneuverable, according to The Hindu. The missile also does not have a seeker, but batch-by-batch improvements and enhancements are planned.

Analysts have said that one Akash missile has an 88 percent probability of kill. But two missiles fired five seconds apart raises this to 98.5 percent. The payload is reportedly around 140 pounds.

The Akash has been developed by the Defense Research and Development Laboratory, which will oversee the weapon system integration and provide support throughout the missile's 20-year lifecycle.

The missile is in the same class as the U.S. Patriot, Israel's Barak and the U.K. SAM system, the article said. It is around 19 feet long, weighs 1,550 pounds and travels at nearly 2,000 feet per second, according to India's Business Line newspaper.

The air force's missiles are being delivered over three years.

Development of an indigenous defense missile has taken around 20 years, and criticism of the project has been harsh at times because of this.

Similar criticism has been leveled at the Defense Research and Development Organization over development of the Arjun Tank, of which the army only recently agreed to take 124 examples to replace some of its older Russian-made T-90 tanks.

The Arjun has been 35 years in the making, and getting the first batch operational has been a battle in itself, lasting a decade, according to a report in the Hindustan Times newspaper last May.

India's Akash missile gets another order - UPI.com

 

[marcos98]

India's Astra BVRAAM Tests Boost Indigenous Capability

With the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducting a captive flight trial of the indigenously developed Astra Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air missile (BVRAAM), the Defence Research & Development Organisation’s (DRDO) ambition to indigenously develop missiles for India has got yet another boost. According to Akshay Kumar of the India-based online news service 8ak (8ak - Indian Defence News), project director of the Astra programme S. Gollakota has said that the IAF had made available the Russian manufactured Sukhoi Su-30MKI for the trials. It has also been reported that the missile had been subjected to pressures of 7Gs at supersonic speed during the test.

The fully developed Mark–II active, radar homing Astra will lock-on and shoot down enemy aircraft about 80 kilometres away. Currently under development is a 44 kilometre range Mark-I version. The Astra, with its design altitude of 15km, has the capability to evade radar.

The missile initially will be developed to arm the front line Su-30 fighter aircraft apart from the indigenously developed LCA – Tejas.

Over the years India has developed numerous new missiles to bolster its attack and retaliatory capabilities. Earlier this year, the 700 kilometre range nuclear-capable submarine- launched ballistic missile (SLBM) Sagarika was tested. Other indigenously built missiles to be tested by India this year are the 350 kilometre range Prithvi, 3,500 kilometre range Agni 3 and the jointly Russia-India developed supersonic missile BrahMos.

These missiles are being developed under the aggressive Integrated Guided Missiles Program (IGMP) launched in 1983 by India to develop futuristic missiles technology based on hypersonic rockets to provide a potent weapon to the armed forces in order to enhance national security.

If one studies the progress of IGMP, no one will have any doubts regarding the advancement India has made over the years in development of missiles technology. The program underlines India's capability to attain self-reliance and present a deterrent from a hostile attack. However, Pakistan claims that India is lagging behind them in missile technology.

 

[brahmastra]

Nuke-capable Agni-II to be tested during night

India is likely to test its nuclear capable Agni-II Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) for the first time during night, defence officials said here on Sunday.

The trial is expected to be conducted from the Wheelers Island off Orissa coast tomorrow, they said.

“Range integration work in Integrated Test Range (ITR) for the proposed trial has been completed and if final check-up in the sub-system of the missile is found flawless, the mission will be taken up tomorrow,” the officials said.

A special ‘strategic forces team’ raised by the Army would conduct the trial with necessary logistic support by various ITR laboratories and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists.

The indigenously built weapon is a two-stage solid propelled ballistic missile and has a weight of 17 tonnes and length of 20 metres. It can carry a payload of one tonne over a distance of 2,000 km.

Agni-II was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory along with other DRDO laboratories and integrated with Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Hyderabad with the private sector participating in a big way in its production.

The missile is part of the Agni series which included Agni-I (700 km range) and Agni-III (3,500 km range). Agni-I was already inducted and Agni-III is in the process of induction, the officials added.

Agni-II was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory along with other DRDO laboratories and integrated with Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Hyderabad with the private sector participating in a big way in its production.

The missile was already inducted into the services and the strategic command network is in charge of the missiles operation.

 

[Saint N sinnerr]

India is all set to test its 2,000-km-plus Agni-II missile from the Wheeler Island off Orissa coast again on Monday.

Significantly, the nuclear-capable missile will be launched for the first time during night in a major step towards making it fully operational in the Strategic Forces Command (SFC).

Defence officials said Agni-II’s ‘user training trial’ was likely to be conducted around 8pm on Monday to give the necessary confidence to the armed forces that the two-stage, solid-fuelled missile can be fired whenever required.
Incidentally, DRDO is also working on MIRV (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) technology for the Agni series of ballistic missiles. An ‘MIRVed’ missile can carry a bunch of nuclear warheads in a single payload, each of which can hit different targets along separate trajectories.

Such missiles can conceivably overwhelm even robust ballistic missile defences of an enemy. MIRV technology is considered important for a country like India, which has a clear no first-use nuclear doctrine but warns that nuclear retaliation to an enemy first-strike will be ‘massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage’.

Pakistan, with the active help of China and North Korea, has surged ahead of India in the missile arena. Some US nuclear experts recently estimated that Pakistan has more nuclear warheads than India. As per their estimates, it has 70-90 warheads compared to 60-80 of India.

China is in a different league altogether, brandishing as it does ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) like Dong Feng-31A (11,200-km range) and SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) like JL-2 (7,200-km range).
But coming back to the Agni-II test, it will take place only if all the pre-launch final checks go smoothly as planned on Monday. The missile, which is around 20-metre tall and weighs 17 tonnes, was earlier to be tested on November 6 but it was called off at the last moment due to some glitches.

Even Agni-II’s last test on May 19 was not fully successful. Consequently, the only ballistic missiles which can be said to be “100% operational” at present are the short-range Prithvi missile (150-350 km) and, to a certain extent, the 700-km-range Agni-I. The fourth test of 3,500-km Agni-III, which will give India the strategic capability to hit targets deep inside China once it becomes fully operational by around 2012, will take place early next year.

India’s most ambitious strategic missile Agni-V will be ready for its first test only in end-2010 or early-2011. With a proposed range of 5,000-km, Agni-V will have near ICBM capabilities (strike range in excess of 5,500-km) and give India’s “dissuasive deterrence posture” against China some much-needed muscle.

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Night launch for N-capable Agni-II today

India is all set to test its 2,000-km-plus Agni-II missile from the Wheeler Island off Orissa coast again on Monday. Significantly, the nuclear-capable missile will be launched for the first time during night in a major step towards making it fully operational in the Strategic Forces Command (SFC).



Defence officials said Agni-II’s ‘user training trial’ was likely to be conducted around 8pm on Monday to give the necessary confidence to the armed forces that the two-stage, solid-fuelled missile can be fired whenever required.

Incidentally, DRDO is also working on MIRV (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) technology for the Agni series of ballistic missiles. An ‘MIRVed’ missile can carry a bunch of nuclear warheads in a single payload, each of which can hit different targets along separate trajectories.



Such missiles can conceivably overwhelm even robust ballistic missile defences of an enemy. MIRV technology is considered important for a country like India, which has a clear no first-use nuclear doctrine but warns that nuclear retaliation to an enemy first-strike will be ‘massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage’.



Pakistan, with the active help of China and North Korea, has surged ahead of India in the missile arena. Some US nuclear experts recently estimated that Pakistan has more nuclear warheads than India. As per their estimates, it has 70-90 warheads compared to 60-80 of India.



China is in a different league altogether, brandishing as it does ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) like Dong Feng-31A (11,200-km range) and SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) like JL-2 (7,200-km range).

But coming back to the Agni-II test, it will take place only if all the pre-launch final checks go smoothly as planned on Monday. The missile, which is around 20-metre tall and weighs 17 tonnes, was earlier to be tested on November 6 but it was called off at the last moment due to some glitches.



Even Agni-II’s last test on May 19 was not fully successful. Consequently, the only ballistic missiles which can be said to be “100% operational” at present are the short-range Prithvi missile (150-350 km) and, to a certain extent, the 700-km-range Agni-I. The fourth test of 3,500-km Agni-III, which will give India the strategic capability to hit targets deep inside China once it becomes fully operational by around 2012, will take place early next year.



India’s most ambitious strategic missile Agni-V will be ready for its first test only in end-2010 or early-2011. With a proposed range of 5,000-km, Agni-V will have near ICBM capabilities (strike range in excess of 5,500-km) and give India’s “dissuasive deterrence posture” against China some much-needed muscle.

From:ASIAN DEFENCE: Night launch for N-capable Agni-II today

 

[hindesi]

cool news.. I mean Agni II with MIRV is a technological achievement.. aint it