Bharat Rakshak

Paanwallah who supplies paan to the chaiwallah who serves tea to the peon of the babu who approves has made a little clarifications on the Nirbhay.

1- TJet or TFan - Tfan with variable pitch propeller (ducted?).
2 - Twin engine - Booster + Tfan - Booster based on Lakshya.
3 - Loiter - Yes. But this is not a true loiter missile. It is supposed to stay in area to do a positive ID of moving target before final top/side attack profile. Uses twin seeker system.
4 - Sub Mach profile.

Seems plausible. by the way, which turbofan is not ducted?

nikhil_p, Got all that but for the variable pitch turbo fan. It will be ducted as its turbo-fan, but variable pitch is additional complications.

To speculate over multiple target thingy will be possible only when we know the payload of Nirbhay. If it has decent payload capacity in excess of 500kg then it makes sense to bundle also multiple targeting capability.

Multi-Target capability could be one of the following or something else all together.

[1] Launch complex can control attacks on multiple targets simultaneously.
If so our response would be 'duh'.

[2]The warhead has submunitions. For example a SFW package that can attack a set of closely spaced targets.
Interesting, but hardly revolutionary.

[3]The targeting system has a primary, secondary and fall back targets. If it is unable to find or discriminate the primary target or decides it has already been neutralized then the missile it will seek out the secondary target and so on till fuel permits.
If this is what is implied by target capability, then it is quite interesting.

[4]The missile can navigate to waypoints, find and attack a target there and then carry on to the next target till fuel/munitions are exhausted.
This is quite cool as it would be first baby steps to a UCAV subsystems. It will probably be cheaper and more effective to have simpler multiple missiles do the equivalent job, but does fit the pattern of DRDO technical overreach.

What he did mention was that there are two versions being produced side by side. One which uses existing technologies from other successful projects and the other uses newer technologies which are still maturing. The specs which he shared are for the one with existing technologies.

The missile, when fired in a swarm (group of 4-8) has a unique guidance mode. One of the weapons climbs to a higher altitude and designates targets while the others attack. The missile responsible for target designation climbs in short pop-ups, so as to be harder to intercept. The missiles are linked by data connections, forming a network. If the designating missile is destroyed the next missile will rise to assume its purpose. Missiles are able to differentiate targets, detect groups and prioritize targets automatically using information gathered during flight and types of ships and battle formations pre-programmed in an onboard computer. They will attack targets in order of priority, highest to lowest: after destroying the first target, any remaining missiles will attack the next prioritized target. [LINKS OMITED IN THIS BRF POST - Please see Wiki.]

The P-700 was derived from the P-500 Bazalt, replacing the earlier missile's solid-fuel propulsion with a turbojet. The P-700 was in turn developed into the P-800 Oniks, which uses ramjet propulsion, and the BrahMos missile, a joint-Indian/Russian modernization of the P-800.

It is often remarked that the only thing missing in India's missile portfolio is a subsonic cruise missile akin to the BGM-109G Tomahawk ground launched cruise missile (GLCM) deployed by the Americans in the eighties. Fortunately, 2012 seems to be the year when this is set to change with several reports of DRDO's Nirbhay being shortly unveiled. One report is particularly noteworthy - TS Subramanian's 'Nirbhay likely to be testfired in April' in this Wednesday's The Hindu.


The story talks about the Nirbhay being a two-stage missile with the second stage powered by a turboprop engine. While the first part is simple enough - the two stages are obviously a reference to the solid booster (which is the 'first stage') used by the Nirbhay when it is launched from the ground; it is the second 'salient feature' that bothered me, i.e the part about the Nirbhay being powered by a turboprop engine during the cruise phase.


Cruise missiles in their 80-year history (considering the WW2 Luftwaffe V-I flying bomb as the first true cruise missile) have been powered by pulsejets, ramjets, turbojets and turbofans with the last two being the propulsive configuration of choice for missiles in Nirbhay's category, but never really by turboprops, unless of course you consider the MQ-9 Reaper to be a cruise missile, during a one-way suicide mission!


Assuming that the turboprop reference is not a typo there is one possibility that may be the real source of this reported feature. Certain experimental designs in the past have used propfans (also known as open flux rotor jet engines) to propel cruise missiles. In the last decade there were reports of a variant of the the latest generation of subsonic Russian cruise missiles of the Kh-101/102 family being propelled by a propfan .


Although it was later mentioned that this effort had been cancelled in 2000. Prior to this, the Americans had tried out propfan configurations on a tomahawk-like design under the long-range conventional standoff weapon (LRCSW) program spearheaded by NASA in 1989.


The attractiveness of propfans stems from the fact that they combine a gas turbine engine with propeller technology in a much more efficient way than turboprops do. Propfans thereby approximate the speed performance of turbofans while exhibiting fuel economy better than that of turboprops. A propfan powered Nirbhay therefore ties in well with the missile's loiter capability emphasized in the report.


Thus there is a possibility that the turboprop propulsive unit reported by The Hindu may actually be a misunderstood reference to a propfan engine. And if it is indeed a turboprop engine akin to an aircraft's that the Nirbhay possesses, then the missile in all probability will turn out to be very different from what it has been imagined by observers to be thus far. Either way, we'll find out soon enough.

BALASORE: The DRDO is likely to conduct the much-awaited crucial test of submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) K-15 from an underwater platform off Andhra Pradesh coast on Sunday. The test was rescheduled from March 4 as the communication alignment could not take place properly due to high tide in the sea. As part of the coordinated mission, the missile will be test-fired from a pontoon (replica of a submarine) positioned nearly 20 feet undersea.

�An official said the cables for communication between the pontoon and a ship (makeshift control room) could not be laid due to heavy current in the sea and high tide on full moon day. The DRDO has, in fact, prepared for twin trials of this indigenously built nuclear capable missile. The second missile will be test-fired within seven days of the trial of the first one. �The test seems crucial for India since the missile could not be tested last year even after a series of attempts. A scheduled test was deferred several times due to� technical glitches in the missile system.

The DRDO is eyeing for the success of the missile as only Russia, the USA, France, UK and China have been successful in firing nuclear tipped missiles from air, land and undersea. Having a strike range of about 700 km, the K-15 missile is� 10 metres in length and a metre in diameter. Its launch weight is about 10 tonnes. After its induction, the missile will equip the country’s first nuclear-powered submarine ANS Arihant. A scientist said K-15 combines aspects of both cruise and ballistic missiles, which use multiple-stage rockets to exit the atmosphere and re-enter in a parabolic trajectory.

In a typical case of procedural delay, the Ordnance Factory Ambajhari (OFAJ) has bagged an order to make Rusisan Smerch rockets with a range up to 90km, but is now seeking permission from the ministry of defence to enter into a joint venture (JV) with the Russian partner.

The rockets will be made by a JV entity formed with the Russian partner. However, since the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is a government department and not a corporate body it cannot set up a JV on its own, said highly placed sources in OFB.

The rockets will be co-produced with the Russian partner, however the JV itself will need the ministry's approval first. With the proposal submitted to the ministry, OFB does not expect any hurdles in getting the permission from the ministry. Even Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is producing Brahmos missiles through a JV, said the source.

The Russians propose to transfer the manufacturing technology to the proposed JV instead of the ordnance factory alone. Almost 90% of the know-how will be transferred, and it is expected that a substantial amount of work will then take place in India, rather than just the assembling, the official said.

A chunk of the manufacturing process will be undertaken in OFAJ, which makes a host of artillery shells apart from Pinaka rockets, which are also based on Russian technology. The director general of ordnance factory Sashidhar Dimri had announced plans to make Smerch at this factory during a visit with minister of state for defence Pallam Raju.

Ordnance Factory Ambajhari at Nagpur will soon add another powerful rocket to its production repertoire. Hardware (casings) of the powerful Russian SMERCH rockets will be built at the factory in the near future, said OF Board chairman Shashidhar Dimri.

"The technology is Russian and we will be making the hardware for it here. The SMERCH rocket has a range of 90km, which is a very strong feature," said Dimri in the presence of MM Pallam Raju, minister of state for defence. Raju was in the city to attend the valedictory function of National Academy of Defence Production.

OF Ambajhari is already manufacturing the indigenous Pinaka rocket, which has a range of 40km. SMERCH's range is more than double the distance, making it a formidable weapon in the army's arsenal. Currently, India purchases the SMERCH wholly from Russia and this is the first time that parts will be made here.

The OF Board has also decided to ramp up production capacity of the Pinaka rockets to 12 times its current level. Dimri said, "We have a current capacity of thousand rockets and the process is underway to take it up to 5,000 in a few year. The ultimate objective is to produce 12,000 rockets."

Raju said his ministry's thrust will be on ensuring quality armament production from the OFs by modernizing the set-up. "The first task is to replace old equipment, improve quality of materials and upgrade skill sets of employees," Raju said.

Dimri added that most OF units are well past their prime and need to brought down. "A typical plant has a life of 20 years, and we have a large number of plants well past that limit. In the next five years, we will replace all old machinery and increase our output," said Dimri.

Based on a suggestion by Raju last year, some OFs will showcase their products at a specially constructed exhibition centre at OF Ambajhari. "In a couple of months we should be ready with the state of the art exhibition centre at OF Ambajhari, where all products we make will be on display," said Dimri.

The city could also play host to a powerful air transport fleet if issues relating to land near Sonegaon airport are sorted out. Raju said, "Nagpur is one of the most ideal locations for stationing the transport fleet. There is an issue between MIHAN and Airports Authority of India, but I am hopeful that things will be resolved soon."

The Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) has mooted a land-swap deal with the IAF. Under this, 278 hectares with the latter will be handed over to MADC, which will give 400 hectares to IAF at another location. However, the plan has not materialized so far. The IAF insists it can shift only when there is a runway close to the land proposed to be given to them.

So, we are making only the rockets and not the whole system? That means we are stuck with only 3 x regiments of Smerch? Pinaka Mk2 with 90kms range better come online fast.

BALASORE: After many postponements, the DRDO finally test-fired the most sophisticated submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), code named K-15. The weapon system was reportedly tested from an underwater launching platform off Visakhapatnam coast on Sunday.

Sources said the missile was launched from a Pontoon (replica of a submarine) positioned nearly 20 feet deep in the Bay of Bengal and 10 km off the AP coast. The DRDO has scheduled the second test for March 14.

Sources confirmed that the test was successful and the missile travelled nearly 700 km before zeroing in on the target. The missile test was earlier deferred on several occasions. “A rectified system was put into trial, this time, which delivered the desired results,” he said, adding that the final evaluation from the warships (makeshift control room) stationed in the sea is awaited.

Developed by DRDO, K-15 can carry a conventional payload of about 500 kg and be fitted with tactical nuclear warhead.

This missile is an advanced clone of Naval version of Prithvi and designed to be exclusively launched from a submarine. Close to the Tomahawk missile of the US, it is India’s answer to Pakistan’s Babur missile. Though the DRDO has unveiled its land variant - Shourya, it has been denying the test of K-15 or B-05 since beginning. “We tested a scientific concept which is under development. We are evaluating its parameters,” Programme director A K Chakrabarti said.

This is so confusing. How can it be a Prithvi variant and akin to the Tomahawk or Babul at the same time?

Some how for me a system like Pantsir/Tunguska would be cheap and would have the same success rate as Iron Dome.My two Cents

Iron dome is very cheap missile system you can consider a scaled down Spyder missile system of sorts. Tunguska/Pantsyr are quite expensive and former didn't live upto Indian navy (Barak was far cheaper and more capable than Kashtan) or Army's expectations (Tunguska was a maintenance nightmare).

Iron dome is not cheap. it uses $25000-$50000 rounds to down rockets (which are about $1000). it wont make sense on a long term.
A much reliable system similar to Pantsyr could be quite effective.