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India’s Defence Minister, AK Antony, recently
stressed upon the need for acquiring a missile
with a reach of 5,000 kms. Asking the Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to
demonstrate its capability to reach the range
of 5000 kms at the earliest, Antony stated, “The
interceptor missile development programme has
taken India to an elite club of nations that possess
the capability to demonstrate and deploy missile
defence.” It can also be added here that
the DRDO is already focused upon futuristic technology
development as it frames a roadmap “Defence
Technology Vision 2050.”
Reacting to Defence Minister’s statement,
the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister
and Director General of the DRDO, Dr VK Saraswat
provided assurance with a statement, “We
have tested the three (solid-propellant composite
rocket motor) stages of Agni V independently...all
ground tests are now over… The integration
process is now in progress… We want to test
the missile in December, not let it spill over
to 2012.”
DRDO is India's state-run defence research body,
involved in five major missile programmes, some
of which have already been tested and inducted
by the Armed Forces.
India search and longing for an inter-continental
ballistic missile (ICBM) has been on for long,
more so since ICBMs have been in the exclusive
possession of the prominent five nations till
now, particularly China. The Agni V with a development
cost of over Rs 2,500 crores, is likely to cover
China's northernmost regions within its nuclear
strike envelope, owing primarily to its high road
mobility, fast-reaction ability and a strike range
over 5,000 kms. The Agni V will provide for the
must-needed credible deterrence especially against
China, which already showcases a Dong Feng-31A
ICBM that can likely hit across the length and
breadth of India.
Technologically innovative while displaying
ring laser gyroscope and accelerator for navigation
and guidance, the Agni V is reportedly easy to
store and swift in so far as its transportation
is concerned. It is a canister-launch missile
system, which in case fired from India’s
Northeast region would be capable of targeting
China’s northernmost city of Habin.
India’s security concerns seem to find
validation with recent reports pointing at China
reportedly placing advanced Dong Feng-21 (DF-21/CSS-5)
medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) along
the borders it shares with India. China appears
to be strengthening its deterrent capabilities
in the region by replacing the earlier liquid-fuelled,
nuclear capable CSS-3 intermediate range ballistic
missiles with the upgraded CSS-5 missiles—a
road mobile, solid-propellant, tactical missile
system with payload and accuracy sufficient enough
to target key civilian population centres and
thus can, in effect, be effectively used as a
deterrent against India. The basic variant of
the DF-21 (CSS-5 Mod-1) is capable of delivering
a 500 kiloton nuclear warhead over a maximum range
of 1,800 kms. According to various sources, over
100 DF-21 missiles have been built with some of
them being reconfigured with conventional warheads
that can be put to use along China’s southern
and north-western borders—thereby targeting
areas throughout northern India.
India’s Missile
Pack
The missile capability of Indian Armed Forces
received a major fillip from the DRDO following
the launching of the Integrated Guided Missile
Development Programme (IGMDP) in 1983. The aim
was to develop a family of strategic and tactical
guided missiles based on local design and development.
Since then, the IGMDP has tasted significant success
as far as two of its most significant constituents
i.e., the Agni and Prithvi missile systems are
concerned. Besides, two other programmes, the
Akash SAM and the anti-tank Nag Missile are still
in the development stage. The Indian missile arsenal
boasts a range of systems and the current thrust
areas of the DRDO include Integral Ram Rocket
Engines, multi-target tracking capability, homing
guidance using Seeker and networking of radars.
Concurrently, the DRDO has consistently worked
towards enhancing and upgrading the following
missile systems further:
Agni I
Agni I is a single stage, solid fuel, road and
rail mobile, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM)
using solid propulsion booster and a liquid propulsion
upper stage, derived from Prithvi, essentially
to prove the re-entry structure, control and guidance.
The strap-down inertial navigation system adopts
explicit guidance—attempted for the first
time globally. Using carbon composite structure
for protecting payload during its re-entry phase,
the first flight was conducted in May 1989, thus
establishing the re-entry technology and precise
guidance to reach the specific targets. This shorter
ranger missile is specially designed to strike
targets in Pakistan within a range of 700-800
kms.
Agni II
Agni II is an operational version of Agni I
and 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) with mobile launch capability
test-fired in April 1999. The range for Agni II
is more than 2000 kms. Quick deployment of the
Agni II was possible, by building on the earlier
Agni-TD programme that provided proven critical
technologies and designs required for long range
ballistic missiles. The Agni II missile was last
test fired in May 2009. A new variant of the Agni
II called the Agni IIIA is presently under development.
Agni III
Additionally, Agni III, an intermediate-range
ballistic missile was developed by India as the
successor to Agni II. Intended to be a two-stage
ballistic missile capable of nuclear weapons delivery,
it is touted as India’s nuclear deterrent
against China. The missile is likely to support
a wide range of warhead configurations, with a
3,500 kms range and a total payload weight of
2490 kg. The two-stage solid fuel missile is compact
and small enough for easy mobility and flexible
deployment on various surface/sub-surface platforms.
In February 2010, India successfully conducted
the fourth flight test of the nuclear-capable
Agni III missile, thus establishing the repeatability
of the missile's performance.
Trishul
The Trishul (Trident) is a short range, quick
reaction, all weather surface-to-air missile designed
to counter a low-level attack. In fact, Trishul
was one of the longest-running DRDO missile development
programme. It can also be used as an anti-sea
skimmer from a ship against low flying attacking
missiles. The missile can engage targets like
aircraft and helicopters, flying between 300 m/s
and 500 m/s by using its radar command-to-line-of-sight
guidance. Powered by a two-stage solid propellant
system, with a highly powered HTBP-type propellant
similar to the ones used in the Patriot, the Trishul
has necessary electronic counter-counter measures
against all known aircraft jammers. Trishul, with
its quickest reaction time, high frequency operation,
high manoeuverability, high lethal capability
and multi-roles for three services, is state-of-the-art
system providing considerable advantage to the
Indian armed forces.
Akash
The Akash system is a medium range surface-to-air
missile with multi-target engagement capability.
It can carry a 55-kg multiple warhead capable
of targeting five aircraft simultaneously up to
25 kms and is said to be comparable to the US
Patriot as an air defence missile. It uses high-energy
solid propellant for the booster and ram-rocket
propulsion for the sustainer phase. The propulsion
system provides higher level of energy with minimum
mass, compared to conventional solid/liquid rocket
motor, which has better performance with minimum
weight of the missile. It has a dual mode guidance,
initially on command mode from phased array radar
and later radar homing guidance with unique software
developed for high accuracy. The phased array
radar provides capability for multiple target
tracking and simultaneous deployment of missiles
to attack four targets at the same time, in each
battery. It was reported in March 2011, that the
improved Mark II version of the Akash SAM missile
will have its first flight test by end of 2012.
The Air Force and Army are likely to order more
of Akash MK-1 and MK-2 SAM batteries to cover
lot of non covered area in its Northeast and western
borders.
Nag
Another missile under IGMDP development is the
Nag, an anti-armor weapon employing sensor fusion
technologies for flight guidance first tested
in November 1990. The Nag is a third generation
‘fire-and-forget’ anti-tank missile
developed in India with a range of 4 to 8 kms.
Nag uses Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) guidance with
day and night capability. Mode of launch for the
IIR seeker is LOBL (Lock on before Launch). Nag
was successfully test fired in August 2008 marking
the completion of the developmental tests. Nag
is expected to be the first weapon of its kind
to be inducted into the army by December 2009.
The Army urgently needs the more advanced Nag
to improve kill probability as the missile using
a high explosive warhead to penetrate the armor
in modern tanks. However, it was reported in April
2011 that induction of third generation Nag missile
is likely to be delayed by more than a year with
the Army seeking improvements to the specially-made
missile carrier, Namica. In addition, HELINA (HELIcopter
launched NAG) the air-to-ground version of the
NAG anti-Tank missile is scheduled to be integrated
into the HAL built Dhruv Helicopters. The weaponised
version of the ALH Dhruv helicopter will be able
to fire HELINAs by 2013. Upgraded propulsion will
enable HELINA to strike enemy armor at a distance
of 7-8 kms.
Prithivi
The Prithvi is a surface-to-surface battle field
missile using a single state, twin-engine liquid
propulsion system and strap-down inertial guidance
with real-time software incorporated in the onboard
computer to achieve the desired accuracy during
impact. Prithvi demonstrates higher lethal effects
as compared to any equivalent class of missiles
in the world. Prithvi could well be termed as
a unique missile since it displays manoeuverable
trajectory and high level capability with field
interchangeable warheads. Its accuracy has been
demonstrated in the development flight trials.
Flight trails for the air force has been completed
and the system is now being configured for launching
from ship, thereby increasing its capability as
a sea mobile system.
PINAKA
Significant additions also include the Multi-Barrel
Rocket System PINAKA, an area weapon system to
supplement the existing artillery gun at ranges
beyond 30 kms, having quick reaction time and
high rate of fire has been accepted by the user
after extensive trials.
BrahMos
The increasing realisation towards the need
for indigenous cruise missile technology consequently
resulted in India choosing the supersonic cruise
missile, BrahMos, being jointly developed with
Russia, which can be launched from submarines,
ships, aircraft or land. The BrahMos developers
have come up with successful development of an
anti-ship and land attack capability. The survivability
of a cruise missile after it is launched is crucially
dependent on stealth in navigation and minimising
the interval between the time that enemy air defence
systems detect its presence and the time it takes
for the cruise missile to arrive at its designated
target. This interval is a function of the speed
of the cruise missile and the distance at which
it is detected. A significant increase in the
speed of a cruise missile always adds to its lethality.
BrahMos is among the fastest supersonic cruise
missiles in the world, at speeds ranging between
Mach 2.5 to 2.8, being about three and a half
times faster than the American subsonic Tomahawk
cruise missile. An important exception, however,
is the Russian Alfa cruise missile, capable of
speeds in excess of Mach 4 (four times the speed
of sound). BrahMos has emerged as the perfect
strike weapon with a fine combination of speed,
precision, power, kinetic energy and reaction
time attributes. In fact, India is the only country
in the world to have inducted the supersonic land-attack
cruise missile in its army.
The high speed of the BrahMos gives it better
target-penetration characteristics as compared
to slower subsonic cruise missiles such as the
Tomahawk. BrahMos is a multi-platform cruise missile
enabling it to strike from various types of land,
sea and air-based platforms, including mobile
and fixed ones. Possession of such weapon systems
in the Indian arsenal would successfully prevent
any hostile ship close within an operational range
of 290 kms at sea when used with prior planning.
Although BrahMos is primarily an anti-ship missile,
it is also capable of engaging land-based targets.
Between late 2004 and early 2008, the missile
has undergone several tests from variety of platforms
including a land-based test from the Pokhran desert
in western India, in which the S maneuver at Mach
2.8 was demonstrated for the Indian Army and a
launch in which the land attack capability from
sea was also verified. Presently, the Indian Army
has one regiment armed with the Block I version
of the BrahMos missile with the first battery
entering service in June 2007. Each battery is
equipped with four mobile launchers mounted on
heavy 12x12 Tatra transporters. It is reported
that the Army plans to induct three more such
batteries.
Due to an on board inertial navigation system
with three gyroscopes and three accelerometers,
BrahMos is a ‘fire and forget’ weapon,
requiring no further guidance from the control
centre once the target has been assigned and it
is launched. Upon completion of assembly, it has
a 10-year shelf life, requiring a routine preventive
maintenance check once every three years. With
decline in the cost of modern technologies, the
overall cost effectiveness of cruise missiles
has increased. The cost-effectiveness of cruise
missiles may alter the fundamental role of airpower.
Nirbhay
Another cruise missile, the Nirbhay was announced
in 2007—a subsonic missile with a range of
1000 kms. Capable of being launched from multiple
platforms on land, sea and air, the missile is
being developed to be tested in 2009. Nirbhay
will be a terrain hugging, stealth missile capable
of delivering 24 different types of warheads depending
on mission requirements and will use inertial
navigation system for guidance. In fact, Nirbhay
will supplement BrahMos in the sense that it would
enable delivery of warheads farther than the 300
km range of BrahMos, according to reports.
Sagarika, Shaurya and
Dhanush
In 2008, New Delhi announced the end of the
IGMDP with the focus now shifting towards serial
production of missiles developed under this programme.
New Delhi has also taken steps toward achieving
submarine launched ballistic missile capability,
with the first test of the K-15 (Sagarika) taking
place in February 2008 from a submerged barge
with a range of 750 kms. Moreover, a land-based
variant of the K-15 Sagarika named Shaurya, which
can be stored in underground silos for longer
time and can be launched using gas canisters as
booster was successfully test-fired in November
2008. This nuclear-capable missile aims to enhance
India’s second-strike capability. The Shaurya
missile can carry a one-tonne nuclear warhead
over 750 kilometers, specially designed to be
fired from Indian submarines and could form the
crucial third leg of India’s nuclear deterrent.
India’s undersea deterrent had so far revolved
around the K-15 ballistic missile, built with
significant help from Russia. The Shaurya is likely
to strike within 20-30 metres of its target after
travelling 750 kms.
Sagarika missile is being integrated with India’s
nuclear-powered Arihant class submarine that began
sea trials in July 2009. Also under development
is the sea-based Dhanush, which has been tested
several times in recent years believed to be a
short-range, sea-based, liquid-propellant ballistic
missile—perhaps a naval variant of the Prithvi
series. According to reports, the possibility
of a two stage version, the first being solid
fueled and the second liquid fueled is expected—thus
providing the missile with a maximum range of
approximately 300 kms. It was reported in March
2011 that Dhanush was successfully test-fired
from a warship.
Besides, 2011 also saw the testing of India’s
indigenously-developed advanced air defence (AAD)
interceptor missile—a single-stage supersonic
missile having its own mobile launcher, secure
data link, independent tracking and homing capabilities
and sophisticated radars. The In addition, the
first test flight of the Indo-Israeli long-range,
surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM), called Barak
2, is scheduled for 2011. The missile is designed
to be used as a point-defence system on warships,
defending against aircraft, anti-ship missiles
and unmanned aerial vehicles. The missile can
hit targets at a range of 70-100 kms.
Conclusion
India’s missile programme represents sovereignty
and self-reliance in so far as its technological
prowess is concerned. New Delhi’s quest for
a credible minimal deterrent requires for it to
concentrate on building comprehensive national
development especially in terms of military capability.
The need for a systematically planned long-term
doctrine notwithstanding, the fact that conflicts
in the future would be autonomous and highly network
centric, make it imperative for India to build
a viable deterrent.
India’s credence in the field, therefore,
will surely get the boost that has been longed
for, with the Agni V missile system, which shall
enable New Delhi to upgrade its present strategic
posture of ‘dissuasion’ to that of credible
‘deterrence.’
(The author is a Senior
Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies,
New Delhi)
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