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India test fires indigenous subsonic cruise missile


 
 
 Published: October 2014
 
 
 
   

New Delhi. India successfully test fired its first indigenous multi-role nuclear-capable subsonic cruise missile, named Nirbhay (or Fearless in Hindi), October 17.

 

The flight was tracked by ground radars and telemetry while an Indian Air Force SU 30 MKI aircraft chased it from its majestic liftoff and steady cruise till the targeted splashdown 73 minutes later in the Bay of Bengal on India’s eastern seaboard.

Dr Avinash Chander, the country’s top defence scientist and missile man, observed that "the missile maintained an accuracy better than 10 meters throughout its path and covered a distance of more than 1000 km” and that the “successful indigenous development of Nirbhay will fill a vital gap in the war fighting capabilities of our armed forces."

Dr Chander is Director General DRDO, Secretary Department of Defence in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and also Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister.

Sources told India Strategic that there would be a few more tests to firmly establish its parameters and develop it into four variants for land, air, sea and underwater deployment. By 2018, Nirbhay should be with the Indian forces.

Nirbhay is reported to have a range of 1500 km however but when asked about the range and payload, DRDO spokesman Dr Ravi Gupta said that he would not disclose details but pointed out that weight and range are a matter of configuration also. “For instance, the air-launched version would not need boosters and still the missile could go for a longer distance.” There was a dummy payload in the current test.

But this is a great development in strengthening the country’s deterrence posture, he said pointing out that Dr Chander was warmly congratulated by the scientists on Nirbhay’s success.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley congratulated the DRDO team on Nirbhay’s success.

Significantly, 15 waypoints – coordinates – were fed into Nirbhay programmed flight, and as required, their number could be increased, enabling it to reach multiple targets. Additionally, Nirbhay would fly at treetop heights to evade hostile radars.

India has a tri-Service Strategic Forces Command (SFC) to manage deployment of nuclear and other missiles from land, air and sea, but the trigger is controlled by the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) chaired by the country’s Prime Minister. There is a declared policy of No First Use (NFU) of nuclear weapons but that also mandates massive punitive response in case of attack.

This was the second test of the Nirbhay missile. The first, in March 2013, had to be terminated for safety reasons due to a component malfunction in its intertial guidance system and its deviation from the designated flight path. But it did achieve most of the mission objectives and helped prepare for the second test.

Various systems were then reviewed by experts, some components replaced and reintegrated with software, and that led to textbook success in the second launch.

The missile is officially described as “long range” by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which has actually added several feathers to its crown in successfully developing a number of missiles. DRDO also has a 50.5 : 49.5 partnership with a Russian company for the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile but as per the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), to which Russia is a signatory but - India does not violate – it is non-nuclear and a limited range of up to 300 km and maximum weight of 500 kg.

India is free to develop indigenous nuclear capability and delivery modules, and that is how, DRDO has been supported by successive governments right from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s time.

India’s nuclear and space programmes are directly controlled by the Prime Minister’s office while for missiles, DRDO reports to the Defence Minister.

Prime Minister Modi’s Government is encouraging the country’s defence scientists.

Dr Gupta said that the missile was launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Balasore in India’s easetern state of Orissa and had “a perfect flight achieving all the mission objectives.”

Nirbhay was powered by a solid rocket motor booster developed by the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) and fired from a mobile launcher specifically designed for by the Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (VRDE).

“As it achieved designated altitude and velocity, the booster motor got separated, the turbofan engine automatically switched on taking over the further propulsion and the wings opened up by the commands generated by the onboard computer (OBC) stabilising the flight. Guided by a highly advanced inertial navigation system indigenously developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI) the ‘Nirbhay’ continued its flight that lasted a little over one hour and 10 minutes, he said.

Throughout its path, the missile was tracked with the help of ground based radars and its health parameters were monitored by indigenous telemetry stations by a team of professionals from ITR and LRDE (Electronics & Radar Development Establishment). Additionally, the performance of Nirbhay was closely watched by an Indian Air Force aircraft.

Director ADE P Srikumar led the launch operations. The launch preparations were planned and supervised by the Nirbhay Project Director Vasanth Sastri.

 

 
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