|
India’s regional setting, where inimical
surroundings in the immediate neighbourhood and
beyond threaten to pervade its peace and stability,
New Delhi’s nuclear doctrine and its means
of delivery, can best be described as a defensive
deterrent.
India’s missile capability received a major
fillip from the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) following the launch 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. Originally, the
IGMDP comprised only four missiles – Prithvi,
Akash, Trishul and Nag. Having accomplished its
objective, the IGMDP was formally brought to a
close in 2008 with New Delhi shifting its focus
towards enhancement, upgradation and serial production
of the following missile systems.
Agni I
Agni I – The continuing Agni series was/is
not part of the IGMDP and remains programmatically
detached from it. 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. The strap-down inertial navigation system
adopts explicit guidance – attempted for
the first time globally. The shorter-range Agni
I is specially designed for retaliatory strikes
against targets in Pakistan within a range of
700-800 kms.
Agni II
Agni II is an intermediate-range ballistic missile
(IRBM) already introduced into service 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. The nuclear-capable version of the Agni
II missile was successfully test fired last in
May 2010. A new variant of the Agni II called
the Agni III A is presently under development.
Agni III
Agni III a two-stage IRBM capable of nuclear
weapons delivery, the Agni III was developed by
India as the successor to Agni II (till the Agni
V was being worked upon) as India’s nuclear
deterrent against China. The missile intended
to support a wide range of warhead configurations,
with a 3,500 kms range and a total payload weight
of 2490 kg. In February 2010, India successfully
conducted nuclear-capable Agni III’s flight
test, thus qualifying it for full induction into
the armed forces and establishing the repeatability
of the missile’s performance.
Agni IV
Agni IV was recently tested in November 2011.
The successful launch of this nuclear-capable
system will prove to be a building block in development
of the Agni V and future missile development projects.
Agni IV is India’s most advanced long-range
missile covering more than 3,000 kms radius within
20 minutes of flight time. The Agni IV, with a
two-phase propulsion system is designed to carry
a 1,000-kg payload. Being a part of DRDO’s
flagship programme which is expected to render
self–reliance to missile-related technology,
the Agni IV, “… has opened a new era
for India in the class of long-range missiles
to carry strategic [nuclear] warheads for the
armed forces and provide fantastic deterrence…”
scientists at the DRDO have stated. They further
observed, “Strategically, it can cover the
whole area on the other side of the border [China].”
Further, it seems, the Agni V missile when fired
from India’s Northeast regions would be capable
of targeting China’s northernmost city of
Harbin.
Agni V
Agni V closely follows the test launch of Agni
IV. With it, India is well on its way to test
what can be described as its most ambitiously
zealous strategic missile system – the nuclear-capable
long-range Agni V missile by February 2012 or
so. New Delhi’s search and longing for an
inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) shall
likely be fulfilled with the Agni V, owing primarily
to its high road mobility, fast-reaction ability
and a strike range over 5,000 kms. India has no
plans to exceed this range. Being a canister-launch
missile system, Agni V would display a ring laser
gyroscope and accelerator for navigation and guidance,
and would be easy to store and swift in transportation.
Providing credence to the need for this long-range
missile, Director General of DRDO, V K Saraswat
has stated, “Our aim is to test-fire (this
missile) by February 2012.” Going by the
projected timeline, Agni V should be ready for
induction into service by 2014. Possessing a three-stage
propulsion system, all the three stages of the
Agni V have already been tested independently
and the integration process is currently in progress.
Trishul
Trishul (Trident) is a short-range, quick reaction,
all weather surface-to-air missile (SAM) designed
to counter a low-level attack. It can also be
used as an anti-sea skimmer from a ship against
low flying attacking missiles capable of engaging
targets like aircraft and helicopters, flying
between 300 m/s and 500 m/s by using its radar
command to line-of-sight guidance and electronic
counter-measures against all known aircraft jammers.
Trishul is a state-of-the-art system with its
quickest reaction time, high frequency operation,
manoeuverability, lethal capability and multi-roles
for the three Services.
Akash
Akash is a medium-range surface-to-air missile
with multi-target engagement capability carrying
a 55 kg multiple warhead capable of targeting
five aircraft simultaneously up to 25 kms. It
finds itself in comparison as an air defence missile
to the US’ Patriot. It uses high-energy solid
propellant for the booster and ram-rocket propulsion
for the sustainer phase. It was reported in March
2011, that the improved Mark II version of the
Akash SAM missile shall likely undergo its first
flight test by end 2012. The Indian Air Force
and Army are reported to order more of Akash MK-1
and MK-2 SAM batteries to cover wide open areas
along India’s northeast and western borders.
Nag
Nag is a third generation ‘fire-and-forget’
anti-tank missile with a range of 4-8 kms. Developed
in India as an anti-armour weapon employing sensor
fusion technologies for flight guidance, the Nag
was first tested in November 1990. Although in
June 2010, Nag was successfully test-fired destroying
a target at a close range of 500 metres in three
seconds, it was reported in April 2011 that induction
of the Nag 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) which is 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. The upgraded propulsion will enable HELINA
to strike enemy armor at a distance of 7-8 kms.
Prithvi
Prithvi is the first indigenously built ballistic
missile under India’s IGMDP with ranges of
Prithvi I at 150 kms and II at 295 kms. Surface-to-surface
(SSM) battlefield missile, Prithvi demonstrates
higher lethal effects as compared to any equivalent
class of missiles in the world displaying manoeuverable
trajectory and high level capability with field
interchangeable warheads. 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. It was reported in March 2011 that the
Prithvi II, which already has been inducted into
the armed forces, was successfully test-fired
as part of its routine testing.
BrahMos
BrahMos is the realisation of a need for an indigenous
cruise missile technology, although it is largely
built with Russian propulsion system and other
components. But India has a significant technological
stake in this supersonic cruise missile, with
the value of the Indo-Russian 50.5:49.5 joint
venture already having orders worth around US$
4 billion. BrahMos is a multi-platform cruise
missile enabling it to strike from various types
of land, sea and air-based platforms. Among the
fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world
with speeds ranging between Mach 2.5–2.8,
the BrahMos rates nearly 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, or 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 presence of BrahMos in
India’s arsenal will successfully prevent
any hostile ship closing in within an operational
range of 290 kms at sea. Although BrahMos was
primarily developed as an anti-ship missile, it
is also capable of engaging land-based targets
and tests have already been conducted to establish
this role. Presently, the Indian Army has one
regiment armed with the Block I version of the
BrahMos missile. The Army reportedly plans to
induct three more batteries, given that each battery
is equipped with four mobile launchers mounted
on heavy 12x12 Tatra transporters. 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. Notably, the cost-effectiveness of
cruise missiles may alter the fundamental role
of airpower.
Nirbhay
Nirbhay is a supplement to the BrahMos. A subsonic
missile using a terrain-following navigation system
to reach up to 1,000 kms, Nirbhay is capable of
being launched from multiple platforms on land,
sea and air. Nirbhay is expected to undertake
its first flight in 2012, with systems integration
work currently under way. Nirbhay will be a terrain
hugging, stealth missile capable of delivering
24 different types of warheads depending on mission
requirements.
Sagarika
Sagarika takes significant steps toward achieving
the crucial third leg of India’s nuclear
deterrent by means of its submarine-launched ballistic
missile (SLBM) capability. The K-15 Sagarika was
successfully tested in February 2008 from a submerged
barge with a range of 750 kms. The nuclear-tipped
Sagarika missile is being integrated with India’s
nuclear-powered Arihant-class submarine that began
sea trials in July 2009 and India will likely
be able to fire the Sagarika from a submarine
in the near future.
Shaurya
Shaurya is a surface-to-surface (SSM) ballistic
missile variant of the K-15 Sagarika. Shaurya
has been developed from ground up as a submarine-capable
missile, which can be stored in underground silos
for a longer time and launched using gas canisters
as booster. This nuclear-capable missile aims
to enhance India’s second-strike capability,
and its high manoeuvrability makes it less vulnerable
to anti-missile defence systems. Specially designed
to be fired from Indian submarines thus making
for the crucial third leg of India’s nuclear
deterrent, the Shaurya missile can carry a one-tonne
nuclear warhead over 750 kms and striking within
20-30 metres of its target. It needs to be mentioned
here that, India’s undersea deterrent had
so far revolved around the K-15 ballistic missile,
built with significant Russian assistance.
Dhanush
Dhanush is a sea-based missile which has been
tested several times in recent years as a short
range version of Prithvi II ballistic missile.
Dhanush has liquid propellants. According to reports,
the possibility of a two stage version, the first
being solid-fuelled and the second liquid-fuelled
is expected – thus providing the missile
with a maximum range of approximately 350 kms.
It was reported in March 2011 that the nuclear-capable
Dhanush was successfully test-fired from a naval
warship.
Astra
Astra is a beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air
missile (AAM) using a solid-propellant that was
tested successfully in May 2011. In terms of size
and weight, the Astra is the smallest missile
developed by the DRDO. Envisaged to intercept
and destroy enemy aircraft at supersonic speeds
in the head-on mode at a range of 80 kms, the
Astra shall ultimately be integrated with fighter
aircraft including Mirage 2000, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29
and India’s Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas.
Astra’s first flight trial took place in
May 2003, and today, India is the first of the
developing countries to possess a state-of-the-art
air-to-air missile. Astra has an active radar
seeker to find targets, and electronic counter-measure
capabilities which permits it to jam radar signals
from an enemy surface-to-air battery, thus ensuring
that it’s not tracked or shot down. With
an eventual operational range of over 100 kms,
the Astra is intended to have performance characteristics
similar to the Russian AA- 12 Adder which flies
at four times the speed of sound and possesses
a range of 100 kms.
Prahaar
Prahaar is India’s latest surface-to-surface
missile with a range of 150 kms tested successfully
for the first time in July 2011. The primary objective
of the conventionally-armed Prahaar missile is
to bridge the gap between the unguided Pinaka
multi-barrel rocket launcher (ranging 45 kms)
and the guided Prithvi missile variants. Stated
to be a unique missile, the Prahaar boasts of
high maneuverability, acceleration and accuracy.
Primarily a battlefield support system for the
Army, the missile can be fired from a road mobile
launchers and can quickly be transported to different
places. Following more flight tests, Prahaar shall
be ready for production.
PAD
India also has a ballistic missile defence technology
demonstrator project that includes the Prithvi
Air Defence (PAD) missile named Pradyumna –
labelled as an AXO (Atmospheric Intercept System).
This system was tested in 2006 with a maximum
interception altitude of 80 kms capable of engaging
missiles with a range of 300-2000 kms up to a
speed of Mach 5.0. In addition, New Delhi has
also indigenously-developed an advanced air defence
(AAD) interceptor missile – a single-stage
supersonic Endo Atmospheric Interceptor tested
in 2007 – in possession of its own mobile
launcher, secure data link, independent tracking
and homing capabilities and sophisticated radars.
Besides, the first test flight of the Indo-Israeli
long-range, surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM), called
Barak 2, is also scheduled. The missile is designed
to hit targets at a range of 70-100 kms and can
be used as a point-defence system on warships,
defending against aircraft, anti-ship missiles
and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Conclusion
India’s missile programme represents sovereignty
and self-reliance towards enhancing national defence
capability. By successfully testing the triad
of nuclear deterrence from sea, land and air,
India’s quest for a credible minimal deterrent
appears to be heading with accuracy. India’s
credibility in the field, therefore, shall receive
a much longed-for boost, with the Agni V missile,
enabling New Delhi to upgrade its present strategic
posture of ‘dissuasion’ to that of ‘credible
deterrence.’
Dr Monika Chansoria
presently is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Slavic
Research Centre, Hokkaido University, Japan.
|
