India’s missile capability

Context: Recently, Defence Minister has urged DRDO scientists to work towards developing hypersonic missile technology.

History of missile technology in India

• Pre-independent India used rockets as part of their warfare technologies.
• Mysore ruler Hyder Ali had iron-cased rockets in his army in the mid-18th century.
• Tipu Sultan, son of Hyder Ali increased this missile technology.
• Post-independence, India did not have any indigenous missile capabilities.
• The government created the Special Weapon Development Team in 1958.
• This was later expanded and called the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL).
• By 1982, DRDL was working on several missile technologies under the Integrated Guided Missiles Development Programme (IGMDP).

Defence Research and Developmental Organisation (DRDO) is developing varieties of missile technology for India:

• ???????DRDO is the Research & Developmental wing of Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
• Aim: To empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies and a mission to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems

What kind of missiles does India have?

• India is considered among the top few nations when it comes to designing and developing missiles indigenously.
• But India is way behind the US, China and Russia in terms of range.

Surface-Launched Systems
Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM)
1. Nag

• It is an Indian third-generation, all-weather, fire-and-forget, lock-on after launch, anti-tank guided missile (ATGM).
• It has an operational range of 500 m to 20 km.
• It is called "Prospina" for the land-attack version.

2. Stand-off Anti-Tank (SANT) missile

• It has a range over 10 km.
• It has a millimetre wave seeker, which enhances target detection in all weather conditions.

Surface-To-Air Missile (SAM)
Akash

• The short-range SAM system is known as Akash.
• It has the capability to neutralise aerial targets like fighter jets, cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles as well as ballistic missiles
• It has already been inducted in the Army and the Air Force.
• Medium-Range SAM: Production of MRSAM systems for the Navy is complete.
• Short-Range SAM: For the Navy, the first flight tests have been successfully conducted.

Air-Launched Systems
Air-To-Air
Astra

• It is India’s Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) and is under induction.
• It has a range of around 100 km.
• A long-range Astra is also being developed.
• The missile uses solid fuel ramjet technology, which enhances speed, and will have an indigenously-built seeker.

Air-To-Ground
1. Rudram is a New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (NGRAM)

• It has a maximum range of around 200 km.
• The missile mainly targets communication, radar and surveillance systems of the adversary.

2. BrahMos

• It is developed jointly by India and Russia.
• It is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft or land.
• It is notably one of the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world.
• It has a range of 300 km to 500 km.
• A supersonic missile-assisted torpedo system
• It will enhance Navy anti-submarine capability with a range of around 400 km.

Most Important Missile Systems of India

• Agni and Prithvi, the most important ones are being used by the Strategic Forces Command.

Agni

• It has a range of around 5,000.
• They are long range, nuclear weapons capable, surface to surface ballistic missiles.
• It is India’s only contender for an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Prithvi

• It is a short-range surface-to-surface missile with a 350 km range.
• A modified anti-ballistic missile named Prithvi Defence Vehicle Mk 2 was used to hit a low-orbit satellite.
• It put India only behind the US, Russia and China in this capability.

Hypersonic Technology

• DRDO successfully tested a Hypersonic Technology Demonstrated Vehicle (HSTDV) in September 2020.
• HSDTV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight.
• It is not a weapon but is being developed as a carrier vehicle for hypersonic and long-range cruise missiles.

India has developed its own cryogenic engine.

• India will try to make a hypersonic cruise missile, using HSTDV.
• Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision.
• India is expected to be able to have a hypersonic weapon with medium- to long-range capabilities.
• The only countries in the world which have hypersonic technology are the United States of America, Russia and China.

India’s capability in developing new technology

• India is at a very advanced stage among the top three or four nations.
• BrahMos was among the fastest in the world when it was developed.
• India is working on Agni VI and Agni VII, which should have a much longer range.

India’s only nuclear missiles are Prithvi and Agni:

• But tactical nuclear weapons can be fired from some IAF fighter jets or from Army guns, which have a low range, around 50 km.