Indian Missile Thread (News, Procurement, Tests, Reports, Discussions)

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Gentlemen, I managed to secure a test photograph:

[IG]

Cool Pic .. keep up the good work

[IG]

Agni-III gets nod for induction

Y.Mallikarjun

HYDERABAD: The nuclear capable, long-range (3,500 km) missile, Agni-III, which is expected to be the mainstay of India’s nuclear deterrence programme, has been cleared for induction into the Army.

This is perhaps the first time that a missile received the nod for induction within a short span of two-and-half years following the first flight test. While the first trial of the surface-to-surface missile ended in a failure in July 2006, the subsequent two flight tests conducted in April 2007 and May 2008 were a resounding success.

“We had an excellent repetition performance in May this year. It was an integrated performance in which all aspects of the weapon system were tested. The capability of the system had been proved and no further technology demonstration is needed” said Avinash Chander, director Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) which designs and develops the Agni series.

He told The Hindu here on Monday that a few user trials would be carried out of the ballistic missile whenever required. The process of induction of Agni-I (700 km) and Agni-II (2,000 km) was continuing.

Meanwhile, ASL had begun work on “new systems” for Agni-V with a range of 5,000 km plus and the first flight test was expected to take place in 2010.

Asked about the development of 1,000 km plus subsonic cruise missile, ‘Nirbhay,’ Mr. Avinash said that work was going on well.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/23/stor...2359841000.htm

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DRDO to make missiles lighter, cost-effective

Composite material, which can withstand very high temperatures and are robust, finds application in aerospace, the light combat aircraft and satellites.

M. Somasekhar


Hyderabad, Sept. 24 With an intention to make the country’s missiles lighter, cost-effective and possess greater hit power, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) is augmenting its composite materials facilities and capabilities.


An independent centre for composite testing and evaluation is being set up at the Hyderabad-based Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), the premier lab guiding the long range missile — Agni programme and providing key technology inputs to other missiles.


ASL already has composites production centre (Comproc), which fabricates the lightweight material for Agni and other missiles. “In 6-7 years, we want to make all the stages of the Agni missile composite structured,” said Mr Avinash Chander, Director of the Laboratory under DRDO.


“At present, the payload and a small portion (nose tip) of Agni is made of composites, while the rest is metallic. Progressively, we will make the airframe, the upper stages and payload completely composite,” he told Business Line. There is lot of interest from the private sector in the composites arena and no dearth of raw materials, he added. Composite material, which can withstand very high temperatures and are robust, finds application in aerospace, the light combat aircraft and satellites.


The ASL provides composites and solid propulsion systems to most missiles such as Prithvi, Akash, Nag and Astra, Mr Chander said.Another initiative taken up by ASL is in the area of non-destructive evaluation of materials. This would help in assessing the health of the missile systems and components.


Cost-effective


Since we cannot bring these back from the field, the testing done through NDE tools and methods on site would make it cost-effective, he added.


These techniques are useful in detecting degradation of materials, cracks or other minor defects, which can reduce the life of the missile or make it ineffective.


Typically, ultrasound and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques are used. Asked about Agni-3, the long-range, surface to surface missile, Mr Chander said it has been cleared for induction into the Defence forces.


“We will do user trials when required, but it is ready for manufacture and induction,” he said. The missile was tested thrice between July 2006 to May 2008, with the first being a failure.


On Agni-V, he said the development is progressing.


“We can test it in two to two and half years. Two out of three stages will be composite, which will reduce its weight and increase range,” he added.


http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NEWS/n...p?newsid=10313

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India, Russia to start work on BrahMos `hypersonic` missile

New Delhi, Sept 29: India and Russia on Monday decided to work together on development of hypersonic version of BrahMos missile and have set up a working group in this regard.

The decision in this regard was taken at the 8th inter-governmental commission (IGC) for military and technology cooperation meeting here in Delhi.

The new version would be an improvement on the already-developed BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

"India and Russia have today agreed to set up a joint working group (JWG) for the development of a hypersonic version of the Brahmos missile," BrahMos Aerospace Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director A Sivathanu Pillai said at a function to mark the Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov's official visit to BrahMos Complex this afternoon. The first meeting of the Indo-Russian JWG on the hypersonic version of BrahMos missile would be held in November this year.

"Our first meeting would be held in Moscow and after that work on the new version of BrahMos will start," Pillai said. Talking about the integration of the supersonic missile on the Russian Su-30 aircraft, Pillai said the work in this regard was in progress in both India and Russia.

Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal N A K Browne, who was present on the occasion, said the missile would be integrated with the latest version of Su-30s.

"The missile would be fitted on Su-30 MKI Block III, which are being inducted in the IAF since last year. The induction of these aircraft would be completed by 2010," Browne said.

Bureau Report

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=472877&sid=NAT

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Russia to deliver another 18 Smerch rocket launchers to India
12:59 | 01/ 10/ 2008



MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will deliver an additional 18 Smerch multiple rocket launch systems to India, the state-run arms exporter said on Wednesday.

"This agreement was reached during the Russian defense minister's recent visit to Delhi," Nikolai Dimidyuk of Rosoboronexport said.

The Smerch MRLS can effectively engage any type of target within a range of 20 to 90 kilometers, and is operated by a crew of three servicemen.

Russia is soon to start delivering 38 Smerch-M 9À52-2 MRLSs to India under a $450 million contract signed two years ago.

In August, Rosoboronexport signed a $300 million contract for the delivery of additional Smerch systems.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081001/117357923.html

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US offers India $375 mn deal for smart missiles

Washington, Oct 04: The Pentagon has notified the US Congress of its offer to sell India CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons (SFW) worth USD 375 million to help the "Indian Air Force to develop and enhance standardisation and operational ability with the United States.”

"This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship," the Pentagon's Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) told the US Congress Sep 30, a day before the Senate approved the India-US civil nuclear deal.

It will also help "improve the security of an important partner, which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in South Asia," the agency said, assuring lawmakers "the proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region".

The proposed sale comes three weeks after US offered India a USD 170 million deal for the sale of two dozen Harpoon air to ground anti-ship missiles during Defence minister A K Antony's visit to Washington.

"India intends to use the Sensor Fuzed Weapons to modernise its armed forces and enhance its defensive ability to counter ground-armoured threats.

"The missiles will assist the Indian Air Force to develop and enhance standardisation and operational ability with the United States. India will have no difficulty absorbing these missiles into its armed forces," the DSCA said.

"There will be no adverse impact on US defence readiness as a result of this proposed sale," it added.

The SFW - a 1,000-pound class weapon - is designed to accurately detect and defeat a wide range of moving and stationary land and maritime target threats with minimal collateral damage, while not leaving a single hazardous dud.

India, DSCA said, "has requested a possible sale of 510 CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons, 19 CBU-105 Integration test assets (12 live tails, seven inert tails) and five CBU-97 Integration test assets as well as associated equipment and services". The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as USD 375 million.

New Delhi, the agency said, has requested offsets for the deal, but at this time agreements are undetermined and will be defined in negotiations between India and the contractor. The prime contractor will be Textron Systems Corporation of Wilmington, Massachusetts.

Textron Defence Systems describes its SFW as "the first and only combat-proven, clean battlefield weapon of its kind in US Air Force inventory".

The SFW contains 10 BLU-108 submunitions, each with four smart Skeet warheads, for a total of 40 warheads. One SFW can simultaneously detect and engage many fixed and moving land combat targets within 121,400 sq mts.

This wide-area capability enables the SFW to halt an invading force and attack air defence sites while significantly reducing the number of aircraft sorties, it says.

Designed for stand-off deployment from a wide selection of aircraft, SFW's versatility and superior lethality make it the weapon of choice for anti-armour, destruction of enemy air defence and many other combat missions.

SFW can be deployed from US or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) tactical aircraft in all weather conditions, day or night, and is presently certified on most US Air Force fighter and bomber aircraft.

Each smart Skeet warhead can defeat a variety of moving and stationary targets, from heavy armoured battle tanks, soft-skinned vehicles to maritime threats. Many of these include parked aircraft, mobile radars and jammers, air defence vehicles and support vehicles.

IANS

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=473870&sid=NAT

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On the Sensor Fused Weapon (a.k.a. "Smart Missiles") the US is selling India:







SFW

The Sensor Fuzed Weapon [SFW] is an unpowered, top attack, wide area, cluster munition, designed to achieve multiple kills per aircraft pass against enemy armor and support vehicles. After release, the TMD opens and dispenses the ten submunitions which are parachute stabilized. Each of the 10 BLU-108/B submunitions contains four armor-penetrating projectiles with infrared sensors to detect armored targets. At a preset altitude sensed by a radar altimeter, a rocket motor fires to spin the submunition and initiate an ascent. The submunition then releases its four projectiles, which are lofted over the target area. The projectile's sensor detects a vehicle's infrared signature, and an explosively formed penetrator fires at the heat source. If no target is detected after a period of time, the projectiles automatically after a preset time interval, causing damage to material and personnel.






A Pre-Planned Product Improvement (P3I) Program will take the existing design and make modifications to the projectile sensor, incorporating a dual mode (active/passive IR) for better target detection; modify the warhead to enhance soft target lethality; and increase the system footprint for better target coverage. Projectiles would be dispensed at a greater altitude expanding the area covered to about 600 feet by 1,800 feet. In addition, an insensitive explosive fill will replace the Octol used in the current warhead to satisfy Navy requirements for the BLU-108/B submunition used in one variant of the Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW).








CBU-105

The SFW is operationally effective when employed at low altitude using level or shallow angle dive deliveries. The weapon is most effective when employed at low altitude from level flight attitudes in a non-countermeasured environment. Due to TMD performance limitations, the current SFW weapon configuration provides the user a limited range of tactical employment options. Weapon effectiveness decreases as release altitude, dive angle, and/or time of flight increases because of adverse effects of wind conditions, weapon dispersion, and aim point uncertainties on delivery accuracy. This performance degradation is an inherent characteristic of all inventory TMD weapons. Due to these TMD accuracy limitations, the USAF Air Combat Command plans to outfit SFW with Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) tail kit. The SFW's delivery envelope will be expanded to include strategic aircraft and higher altitudes through incorporation of the WCMD. The SFW with WCMD is designated CBU-105.





Specs:

Weight: 927 pounds
Length: 92 inches
Diameter: 16 inches
Guidance: None
Control: none
Autopilot: None
Propulsion: None
Warhead: SUU-66/B tactical munitions dispenser
10 BLU-108/B submunitions [@ 4 projectiles]
Fuse: Integral part of dispenser
FZU-39/B proximity sensor






From Discovery:

YouTube Video

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good work brother ..

[BRUTUS]

Thanks Indianguy

[BRUTUS]

India develops guided missile testing device

Simulates jet exhaust

By Peter Larsen
October 10, 2008 8:37 AM


The Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed a guided missile testing device.


According to A K Maini of DRDO, the Laser Technology Center "successfully tested the guided weapon testing devices, which helps improve the accuracy rate of guided weapons of IAF like infra-red guided missiles and laser guided bombs."


The innovative device reportedly matches weapons' code specifications with target designators and is capable of simulating the jet exhaust signatures of enemy aircraft.



"Missiles drift from their targets because the codes of seekers in missiles do not match with the designators. Our fighter aircraft also face similar problems, as codes in PGMs and laser target designators and seekers tend to shift marginally after some time, which makes the missile drift from its target by a long distance," explained Maini.


Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force has inaugurated an integrated command and control system to facilitate the real time networking of all military and civilian radars in southern India.


"The [C&C] will help in carrying out real time networking of civil and military radars and will act as a force multiplier for the IAF in the southern peninsula," explained Air Marshal S. Radhakrishnan.


The system reportedly integrates IAF, Indian Navy and civilian radars in the southern peninsula via a multi-radar data fusion application. The new C&C also supports air defence functions such as automatic surveillance, identification, threat evaluation, interception and recovery.


http://www.itexaminer.com/india-deve...ng-device.aspx

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THE INDIAN MISSILE ARMOURY


Since this has not been previously accomplished, I will embark upon a description of the Ballistic (land and submarine-launched), Anti-Aircraft, Anti-Ship, Cruise, Anti-Missilie and Anti-Ballistic missiles in the Indian missile Armoury.


The following is the status of the Indian missile inventory as of January 2008:

-> BALLISTIC MISSILES





-> ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILES





-> ANTI-SHIP MISSILES





-> CRUISE MISSILES





-> ANTI-MISSILE MISSILES





-> ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILES





Info Courtesy: Bharat Raxak, others
Image Courtesy: Various sources


I will begin with the Agni, a family of Intermediate Range Ballistic missiles developed by India under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program and consider each Variant in turn.

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On the Agni Lineage of Short and Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles


Etymology and Nomenclature

Agni is a Sanskrit/Hindi word meaning Fire, given that it is a strategic ballistic missile. The Agni missile family is envisaged to be the mainstay of the Indian missile-based strategic nuclear deterrence. The Agni family will continue to grow its stable, providing a breadth of payload and range capabilities. The Agni-I is a short range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a single stage engine. While the Agni-II is an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) with two solid fuel stages and a Post Boost Vehicle (PBV) integrated into the missile's Re-entry Vehicle (RV). The Agni's manoeuvring RV is made of a carbon-carbon composite material that is light and able to sustain high thermal stresses of re-entry, in a variety of trajectories. The Agni-IIAT is a more advanced version of the Agni-II, albeit with more sophisticated and lighter materials, providing better range and a wider operating regime. Agni-III is a compact long range missile in test phase. Agni-3SL is a compact version of Agni-3 suitable for submarine launch.


Variants

Chronologically Agni-TD was first developed to quickly prove critical technologies, followed by the Agni-II IRBM, and then a short range version missile called Agni-I. In defense literature/publications this numbering system jumble, leading to the Agni-I name, often confuses readers. Indian reports mention development of the Agni-III-TD and Agni-III missiles with greater range and payload capability, albeit with great obfuscation of actual configuration and specification. Recently video images of Agni-III were released by DRDO. Based on technical viability and data from news fragments, the Agni family of missiles can be referred to the following likely configurations with what is believed to be the saner nomenclature.











Development

India launched the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) in 1983 to concurrently develop and produce a wide range of missiles for surface-to-surface and surface-to-air roles. The IGMDP mandated development of the Agni, Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag and Astra missile systems is managed by the DRDO. After successfully delivering all missiles except the Trishul, IGDMP program will conclude by Dec 2008. The Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) Laboratories manufactures Agni missiles and has the capacity to manufacture 18+ missiles a year.


The Agni missile series consist of following missiles (in chronological order):

* Agni-TD/TTB (Technology Demonstrator / Technology Test Bed)

* Agni-II - IRBM (3300 km range, 1000 kg payload)

* Agni-I - SRBM (850 km range, 1000 kg payload)

* Agni-III - ICBM (5500 Km @ 1500Kg, 12,000 km @ 450 kg)


Agni variants under development:

* Agni-IIAT - ICBM (4,000 km range, 1500 kg payload)

* Agni-III++ - ICBM (10,000+ km range, 1000 kg payload)


Warhead Options

India's nuclear warhead options are still relatively limited, though adequate for a feasible deterrent. Since the first Peaceful Nuclear Explosion (PNE) in 1974 (PoK-I), India adopted the recessed deterrence posture initially consisting of fission weapons (~15 KT yield) followed by boosted fission weapons of 200 KT yield, suitable for the Agni-TD/TTB. The PoK-II 1998 'Shakti' series of nuclear tests in Pokhran were reportedly done to validate multiple weapon designs, of 1995 vintage. Interestingly the 200 KT boosted fission design of 1980 was not tested in PoK-II. Evidently its core components and technologies were validated in newer designs, giving way to a lighter and more efficient S1 design. It is interesting to note that India has access to large quantities[135] of Tritium - produced at an extremely low cost - which lends flexibility to Indian weapon design options, an option that was not available or viable to prior nuclear weapon states.

Shakti-1 Thermo-Nuclear weapon during 1998 Pokhran-II nuclear tests.
[Image: Govt. of India, Courtesy: Bharat Raxak]



Notional old and new Indian strategic weapon shape & size [© Arun Vishwakarma, Courtesy: Bharat Raxak]

The primary warhead for the Agni family would be a 200-300 Kt fusion weapon based on the Shakti-1 (Pokhran-II) test in 1998. The weapons yield is adjustable from 45-300Kt by changing the amount and quality of tertiary fuel. A yield in the 45-200Kt range using natural Uranium and 45-300Kt range using moderately enriched fuel (U235 or Pu) is acknowledged.


The fusion weapon based on the S-1 design reportedly weighs less than 450 Kg, with some sources indicating a mass of between 300 to 200 Kg. The 45kT S1 device that reportedly weighed 450 kg and used an inert mantle to ensure third stage jurisdiction did not generate any yield. It has also emerged that by 1982, the BARC/DRDO team had produced a design for a (pure) fission device that weighed between 170 and 200 kg for a yield of 15 KT - a huge change from the 1000 kg monster tested in 1974. This would mean that a missile warhead based on this 1982 vintage design would weigh some 250 - 350 kg. On the eve of the Agni-III D1 test flight on 12 April 2007, Union Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju confirmed that "the strategic payload of the missile is between 100 kg to 250 kg". One can conservatively deduce that the 250 kg mentioned by the minister corresponded to the Indian Thermo-nuclear weapon, and the 100Kg corresponded to either the 20Kt medium-yield boosted fission weapon since low yield sub-KT weapons are tactical & not considered strategic weapons.


[Copyright: Arun Vishwakarma, Courtesy: Bharat Raxak]


------------------------------------------------------------


........Coming soon: The Agni-TD/TTB

[BRUTUS]

Breakthrough tech to increase range of high speed missiles

16 Oct 2008


Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, have developed a new technology for increasing the range of high speed space vehicles including missiles.


"This technology reduces drag of high speed space vehicles which dictates the range of the missile for a given amount of fuel," Prof K P J Reddy of Department of Aerospace Engineering. "The thrust generated by the rocket engine must compensate for the drag encountered by the missile in its path," he said.


"This technology involving spray coating of the high speed missiles and other space vehicles can be used in the existing stockpile of missiles," Reddy, leading a team of scientists who developed it, said.


"The method will ensure that, without spending any additional energy, the overall aerodynamic drag of the vehicle can be controlled and this in turn will improve the efficiency of the hypersonic flight of the vehicle.


This is a very attractive technique for controlling aerodynamic drag of the vehicles flying at hypersonic Mach numbers," Reddy said in the recent issue of Physics of Fluids Journal.


The technology has been demonstrated by eminent scientists Vijay Kulkarni, G M Hegde, G Jagdeesh and E Arunan of the high enthalpy aerodynamics laboratory in the Department of Aerospace Engineering.The IISc scientists have got an Indian patent for the technology, Reddy said.


The main advantages of this innovative hypersonic drag control techniques are that it is a completely passive device that is non-intrusive and does not need any additional power during the actual flight to control the aerodynamic drag of the missile flying at hypersonic speeds.


Also, the amount of heat energy released into the shock layer of the body can be altered to suitably control the aerodynamic drag of the hypersonic vehicle.
The nose of the missile is essentially blunted in order to reduce the heating problem but the drag encountered by the blunt bodies when they travel at hypersonic speeds (five to six times the speed of sound approximately 2 km per second) is larger, he said, adding hence one way of increasing the range of the missile or any vehicle is to reduce the drag force.


The new method involves a radically different technique in the sense that no additional device or power is required for controlling the aerodynamic drag in the proposed technique during the actual hypersonic flight, Reddy said.
The technique is to coat the nose portion of the missile with a thin layer of material such as chromium, the aero scientist said.


This metal coating evaporates due to the heating of the missile nose or vehicle during its hypersonic flight and the evaporated metal particles in atomic form react exothermically with the oxygen atoms surrounding the body to release additional heat into the air in front of the missile. This heat addition reduces the drag force by up to 47 per cent, he said.


In fluid dynamics, drag is the force that resists the movement of a solid object through a fluid. For a solid object moving through a fluid, the drag is the component of the net aerodynamic or hydrodynamic force.


One of the features of the new method is that it is expected to enhance the commercially viability of the technology. In addition, this technique will also be useful for development of space vehicles which consume lesser fuels and
thus reduce the cost of space travel in future, Reddy added.


Asked how it can be considered a breakthrough, Reddy said, the existing techniques for reducing the drag force involve the addition of an aero spike at the nose of the missile or blowing a supersonic gas jet from the missile nose tip.


Implementation of these techniques involves major modification to the missile structure and hence cannot be applied to existing missiles which are in stockpile, he said.


While in the new technology developed by the IISc, right away one can spray the existing missiles or space craft without committing to any modifications, he said.


http://164.100.52.41/sciencenewste.asp?top1=top1

[BRUTUS]

Agni-V to be ready by 2010

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 11:10 PM


PUNE: Indian defence scientists have embarked on Project Agni-V to develop a long-range missile by the year 2010, which can strike targets over 5,000 km, programme director of Agni weapon systems, Avinash Chander said on Wednesday.


“After the success of Agni-III, which is ready for induction, we have started working on Agni-V. It will be a three-stage, all composite, solid propellant fuelled, advanced version in the Agni class of ballistic missiles with a range of over 5,000 km. The development process has already begun and in the next two years, the weapon system should be ready,” Chander said.


Though most of the systems for the Agni-V will be from the Agni-III ballistic missile, the new systems have been scaled up. It will be a modified design and has to go through the entire process of development and testing.


“We have the technology ready with us. It will be availed from the already prepared Agni Class missiles I-III. However, the Agni-V is going to be much more powerful and have a greater range. For this the design of the missile’s delivery system has to be modified to suit the requirements. But, since we have existing successful technology model readily available with us, the time taken to develop this new missile will be much less than before,” he said.


The Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed Agni-I (700 km), Agni-II (2,000 km) and Agni-III (beyond 3,000 km), which can carry conventional and nuclear warheads. Agni-V is its latest project, which could be the final one in the Agni series.


http://www.sakaaltimes.com/2008/10/2...y-by-2010.html