Indian Missiles and Munitions Discussion

Juggi G · Post by **Juggi G** » 11 Jun 2011 06:37

India is about to take another big step forward in its nuclear weapons delivery capacity with plans to flight-test the Agni-V ballistic missile this year.

The Agni-V would represent a big step forward in India’s strategic weapons arsenal given its range in excess of 5,000 km (3,100 mi.). Once testing begins, developers hope to declare the Agni-V operational in two years. The missile’s predecessor, the 3,500-km-range Agni-III, is currently under induction into strategic missile groups governed by India’s nuclear command.

In May, the Indian Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) reviewed progress on the indigenous submarine-launched ballistic missile (SSBN) program and the country’s long-range missiles. That meeting appears to have led to the decision to speed up the Agni-V program and ensure that there were no slippages in the induction of India’s first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, the Arihant, next year.

The Agni-V’s range puts China—India’s principal focus as far as nuclear deterrence is concerned—fully within range of a retaliatory strike. India functions on a no-first-strike nuclear policy. The Agni-V will be cannisterized, road-mobile and designed for quick deployment. It was revealed last February that the Agni-V is also being developed to carry multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) warhead payloads.

The three-stage prototype Agni-V that will be fired is currently under integration and fabrication. The DRDO’s Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) has tested the missile’s three stages separately on the ground. The Agni-V will be India’s first strategic missile with a rocket motor built from composites, unlike the metal construction used in all earlier Agni-series missiles. Over the next few months, confirmatory ground evaluations of all major subsystems will be completed. Last year, the program team grappled with delays arising from changes to the weapon’s payload structure, the addition of extra heat shields and alterations to the missile’s re-entry mechanism.

In terms of range, the Indian government does not feel the need to go beyond what the Agni-V is capable of, making it perhaps the last long-range ballistic missile in the country’s guided weapons program for the foreseeable future. The DRDO has revealed that while it has no official sanction to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with ranges in excess of 8,000 km, it has developed the critical technology to build one quickly if necessary.

Less is known about India’s K-series of submarine-launched missiles. While the K-15, with a range of 750 km, continues to be tested to meet the specifications of India’s first indigenous SSBN, the Arihant, DRDO engineers have unofficially spoken of a long-range missile being developed for underwater launch. While the Agni-V will fulfill the land leg of India’s nuclear deterrent, it is the 3,500-km-range K-4 missile that will truly complete the country’s strategic triad, providing it with a crucial strike capability from the sea. India’s Arihant-class SSBNs, the first of which is scheduled to enter service late next year, are being built to deploy four K-4s and 12 K-15s. An even longer-range variant of the K-4, with a range of 5,000 km, is also being planned.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Jun 2011 06:50

Last year, the program team grappled with delays arising from changes to the weapon’s payload structure, the addition of extra heat shields and alterations to the missile’s re-entry mechanism.

clues clues that a MIRV payload, very high heat(speed) manouvering reentry and prolonged depressed-ballistic shots could be the intent - imho.

thammu · Post by **thammu** » 11 Jun 2011 07:55

Air Chief in favour of flexing missile power

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Jun 2011 08:05

and he is quite right, none of the P5 stopped @ 5000km or identified specific targets. we need the freedom for SSBNs to roam deep within the southern IOR / pacific / atlantic to the edge of antarctica and reach targets deep in northern hemisphere from there, which automatically needs a 10,000km range with full no-compromise MIRV payload.

hopefully this indicates a thought process within the GOI to unlock the self-imposed shackles....coupled with AK Sir bluntly ordering a speedup and testing for A5 this year.

one looks forward to the K-4 as a starting point.

for land based A5, IFF PRC is the only target, then A5 may be necessary and sufficient, but for SSBNs we need longer range missiles to permit freedom to deploy and launch from any ocean esp vast reaches of southern IOR.

Shrinivasan · Post by **Shrinivasan** » 11 Jun 2011 10:00

any news on Agni IIP (Prime) which was meant to be a bridge between Agni II and III? after one failed test no news. any updates from Paanwalas. This is where we miss Arun_S

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 11 Jun 2011 10:11

GD, Agni VI is the MIRV vehicle per DRDO techfocus. Looks like AV was speeded up as program protection vs Arihant. I would like to see their test plans to declare it operational in 2 years.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Jun 2011 10:27

if A3 test pgm was considered successful, and its under SAC order for Induction , wouldnt it make sense to abandon the AII-P project and focus resources on production and further versions of A3 instead ?

it will take a while for A-5/K-4 to be tested and inducted in reasonable numbers (5-7 years for sure), so in the interim, A3 is the one and only strategic deterrent we have inside the arsenal.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 11 Jun 2011 12:05

Well given the khufiya nature of our rocket pgm, who knows what they are actually developing and calling it. They might call another of the lakshya missions to be an advanced k-4 with intercontinental range after a few years

ashish raval · Post by **ashish raval** » 11 Jun 2011 12:20

"Surya" missile which is not official will take care of 10k range. We need not declare any projects which misleads the world into believing negatively about India till we have developed a strong and open economy with economic interests tied to many nations.

jaladipc · Post by **jaladipc** » 11 Jun 2011 12:41

Singha wrote:if A3 test pgm was considered successful, and its under SAC order for Induction , wouldnt it make sense to abandon the AII-P project and focus resources on production and further versions of A3 instead ?

it will take a while for A-5/K-4 to be tested and inducted in reasonable numbers (5-7 years for sure), so in the interim, A3 is the one and only strategic deterrent we have inside the arsenal.

There is a lot of review going on in both tactical and strategic missile front.

Prithvi I/II are considered much heavier for whatever payload they are carrying. With new technologies available, DRDO is looking for light and highly mobile versions for the tactical BMs. If everything goes according to the plan( one in 10 times

) the production of PI/II will be stopped by 2015 and the new Tactical BMs will be put into operational use. Prithvis are antique,consume many resources( supporting vehicles and all ). IF the new TBMs are meant to be what they are, then each launcher will be carrying 2 or 3 TBMs with all solid fuel and canisterised( akin to brahmos, thanks to Brahmos program). These new TBMs will be covering a range of upto 400km for varying payloads. This having multiple TBMs on a single launcher is to pack more firepower while reducing manpower within the existing regiments.
Actually A-IIP has failed twice.And the project is under review.AIII will take the role of interim deterrent untill the subsequent canisterised missiles will be inducted.It was considered as a TD for testing the large rocket motor which is a base for all the next follow on family of missiles. A-IV,V,VI,...

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 11 Jun 2011 13:05

Billions for Missile Defense, Not a Dime for Common Sense

Missile defense, as it's currently being set up, can be easily defeated by any country that can field ballistic missiles -
...

Nothing has changed in the intervening decade to change this calculus. The simplest countermeasures are cheap inflatable balloon decoys similar to the shiny ones at children's birthday parties. Because the missile-defense interceptors try to strike the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) warheads in the vacuum of space, these balloons and the warhead would travel together, making it impossible to tell apart the decoys from the real thing. An enemy bent on delivering a nuclear payload to the United States could inflate many such balloons near the warhead and overwhelm the defense system by swamping it with fake signals. No technical secrets are needed to defeat the system because these obvious weaknesses have been repeatedly pointed out by the country's top scientists since the 1960s.

jaladipc · Post by **jaladipc** » 11 Jun 2011 13:26

^^^^

There are critics for each and every program.
For every Anti- BM/Aircraft missile, there are both counter measure and counter-counter measures.

With technological advances day by day, we are having target discriminator. Not to mention Indian ABM does include this valuable piece. It can discriminate everything,including the space junk.

You cant stop developing ABMs becos of the fear that the enemy will use counter measures. When the first ABM was started, it used high yield nuclear warheads to destroy the target( for many reasons: including hit accuracy, enemy countermeasures,..)And then the ABMs progressed down to a nice kill percentage of ???? ( still no valid number, because no real wartime tests have never happened other than planned developmental tests)
Dont like to bring in Patriot. It was a big failure from the beginning. LM sales executive knows its true capabilities than anyone else.

BM decoys are altogether a new area. One cant inflate a balloon in the space to make a look alike to deceive the enemy radars/ active missiles. It has to carry loaded decoys more than just balloons( which has no propulsion/significant mass) to overwhelm any ABM system.
To deal with different situations, they have got different interceptors. Like final course, mid-course and boost-phase.

For India All three phases of interception are possible against TTP given the proximity of its launch vehicles. A space based early warning and long range interceptor will make the job 100% possible. But for china except the boost phase we can go for both mid-course and final.

Even if an ABM stops half of the launched missiles, we can say atleast half of the population is safe instead of all dead. This game is like my glass half full or half empty.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 11 Jun 2011 13:36

Fortunately they stopped " A country which cannot make a car/ fed its population etc, tested a missile" kind of thing.

But, we need to invest in decoys and such.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Jun 2011 01:50

It is not even a drop of water even with full blown ABM. What makes it half full is launch detection systems, and NFU doctrinal changes to give an automatic launch code in a matter of seconds. NFU based babooze can't be chai biskooting, when a df5 has cleared earths gravity in its first strike at 5k miles away or from an undetected first strike from a sub surface tube... say just only from 1000 miles away and in the deep.

bottom line point is, there is no point continuing NFU after ABM is ready.. and the multi-mode (air/space/land/sea) launch detection system commence operational FoC. One day, we have to say we are MAD at people having nukes.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 Jun 2011 04:08

abhishek_sharma wrote:Billions for Missile Defense, Not a Dime for Common Sense

Missile defense, as it's currently being set up, can be easily defeated by any country that can field ballistic missiles -
...

Nothing has changed in the intervening decade to change this calculus. The simplest countermeasures are cheap inflatable balloon decoys similar to the shiny ones at children's birthday parties. Because the missile-defense interceptors try to strike the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) warheads in the vacuum of space, these balloons and the warhead would travel together, making it impossible to tell apart the decoys from the real thing. An enemy bent on delivering a nuclear payload to the United States could inflate many such balloons near the warhead and overwhelm the defense system by swamping it with fake signals. No technical secrets are needed to defeat the system because these obvious weaknesses have been repeatedly pointed out by the country's top scientists since the 1960s.

He is talking from musharraf. Balloons don't have the beta to fool the radars.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Jun 2011 04:33

.. made in pakistan logic.

yes, totally forgot on signatures plus target positioning & tracking system should be able to identify them easily based on the these signatures, and most importantly from doppler shifts. normal cop radar would do.

VikramS · Post by **VikramS** » 12 Jun 2011 05:09

The Yousaf Butt article cites another article which goes into the challenges faced by an ABM system. That article has a fair amount of material devoted to the issue, not of all which can be dismissed.
http://www.thebulletin.org/files/064002009.pdf

---------------------------

Regarding balloons and air: Think air-bags. You do not need a pump to inflate a balloon.

Also the context is propulsion free flight in space.

Their arguments about conical radar cross sections are bogus. The conical shape will disperse only if it is an head-on source.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Jun 2011 06:04

he is again cr@pping on his balloon theory in that article too.

Avid · Post by **Avid** » 12 Jun 2011 07:29

Singha wrote:that would be a brimstone mod of hellfire thing. very desirable and hopefully on the radar map - tripe tubes of helina would mean Jag/Tejas/M2k/Mig29 could carry 12. and a MKI atleast 18

Singha sir, i am not sure about suitability of using aircraft such as MKI for launching anti-tank missiles. LCH/dhruv etc. Would be deal. IMHO.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 12 Jun 2011 07:59

Singha sir, i am not sure about suitability of using aircraft such as MKI for launching anti-tank missiles. LCH/dhruv etc. Would be deal. IMHO.

What he meant was surplus MKIs ....................... day 2/3 of a war.

What Singha Garu says matters. What he does not say also matters. Some of us oldies have learnt it the hard way.

pragnya · Post by **pragnya** » 12 Jun 2011 13:28

interview with Dr. A Sivathanu Pillai, BrahMos Aerospace CEO and Managing Director

'We have developed a world-class weapon system'

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 12 Jun 2011 19:10

abhishek_sharma wrote:Billions for Missile Defense, Not a Dime for Common Sense

Well since very little has been spent on common sense - the author of this article is unable to display much of that sense himself.

The arguments are more rhetoric built around some technical information. Rhetoric cuts both ways. His argument against ABM defence is not strong enough. One can make a better case for ABM defence and dismiss this guys argument outright.

Shrinivasan · Post by **Shrinivasan** » 12 Jun 2011 20:24

Cross posting from China Military watch...

Cain Marko wrote:V. big part of the CBG's role is played via Tomahawk strikes imho - each of these ships can probly launch a few hundred at various targets - strike capability goes up considerably...

You got it spot on... the key to the success of an carrier borne (or land based) air strike would be a saturation attack using a barrage of CMs/BMs. This is where IAs large array of Prithvis and Brahmos II would come in handy. unfortunately none of our ships are designed to carry a huge # of Brahmos like the Tomohawks carried by USN.

A barrage of 200-300 Brahmos and Prithvi designed to hit military targets in Pukistan would destroy / degrade their war fighting ability significantly even before the first IBG revs-up its engines. JMT

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 12 Jun 2011 21:30

Kalam suggests reusable hypersonic version of BrahMos

arunsrinivasan · Post by **arunsrinivasan** » 12 Jun 2011 21:38

^^ not sure if this is a good idea. A key reason for Brahmos's destructive power is its momentum, once you make it reusable, a big chunk of the mass is removed thereby reducing its momentum. Unless one can increase the payload capacity to compensate, making it reusable will reduce its effectives. my 2 naya paise.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 12 Jun 2011 22:30

Just to be clear, Kalam ji is talking of a Hypersonic missile. It should have nearly the twice the speed of the current one. One such is under development, he has tacked on "reusable" to it. So essentially the motor comes back after delivering the warhead.

Seems to me it is closer to the old AVATAR concept.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 12 Jun 2011 22:41

On a slightly different note, but one that I feel is crucial: What is preventing India from morphing this missiles into one that has a range of say 1000 Kms?

Also, could a reusable one carry multiple warheads? A command center here, a bridge there, one the way back slow down and drop a few leaflets in Chinese, saying something like "You are now approaching the mountain of peace" ......................

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 13 Jun 2011 01:09

One of the most revealing articles. Must read.
India Poised To Test Agni-V Missile

Jun 10, 2011

By Asia-Pacific Staff
New Delhi

India is about to take another big step forward in its nuclear weapons delivery capacity with plans to flight-test the Agni-V ballistic missile this year.

The Agni-V would represent a big step forward in India’s strategic weapons arsenal given its range in excess of 5,000 km (3,100 mi.). Once testing begins, developers hope to declare the Agni-V operational in two years. The missile’s predecessor, the 3,500-km-range Agni-III, is urrently under induction into strategic missile groups governed by India’s nuclear command.

The development comes as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute warns that India and Pakistan “continue to develop new ballistic and cruise missile systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons. They are also expanding their capacities to produce fissile material for military purposes.” The organization notes in its latest yearbook that the Indian nuclear stockpile is estimated to have grown to 80-110 warheads, up from 60-80 a year ago, with Pakistan’s inventory at 90-110 warheads, up from 70-90.

Earlier this month, in a departure from the Indian government’s traditional reluctance to talk publicly about the country’s strategic weapons arsenal, Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony ordered the country’s missile program administrators to speed up the Agni-V program, saying, “the [Defense Research Development Organization] must demonstrate its capability to reach the range of 5,000 km at the earliest.” DRDO chief Vijay Saraswat adds that the 22-meter-long (72-ft.) Agni-V would be test-fired in December.

In May, the Indian Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) reviewed progress on the indigenous submarine-launched ballistic missile (SSBN) program and the country’s long-range missiles. That meeting appears to have led to the decision to speed up the Agni-V program and ensure that there were no slippages in the induction of India’s first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, the Arihant, next year.

The Agni-V’s range puts China—India’s principal focus as far as nuclear deterrence is concerned—fully within range of a retaliatory strike. India functions on a no-first-strike nuclear policy. The Agni-V will be cannisterized, road-mobile and designed for quick deployment. It was revealed last February that the Agni-V is also being developed to carry multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) warhead payloads.

An Agni-V program developer says “the missile will soon be ready in all respects for its first test. We are continuing with subsystem testing and simulation trials. We do not foresee any delays.” The 700-km-range Agni-I and 2,000-km-range Agni-II are already operational.

The three-stage prototype Agni-V that will be fired is currently under integration and fabrication. The DRDO’s Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) has tested the missile’s three stages separately on the ground. The Agni-V will be India’s first strategic missile with a rocket motor built from composites, unlike the metal construction used in all earlier Agni-series missiles. Over the next few months, confirmatory ground evaluations of all major subsystems will be completed. Last year, the program team grappled with delays arising from changes to the weapon’s payload structure, the addition of extra heat shields and alterations to the missile’s re-entry mechanism.

In terms of range, the Indian government does not feel the need to go beyond what the Agni-V is capable of, making it perhaps the last long-range ballistic missile in the country’s guided weapons program for the foreseeable future. The DRDO has revealed that while it has no official sanction to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with ranges in excess of 8,000 km, it has developed the critical technology to build one quickly if necessary.

Less is known about India’s K-series of submarine-launched missiles. While the K-15, with a range of 750 km, continues to be tested to meet the specifications of India’s first indigenous SSBN, the Arihant, DRDO engineers have unofficially spoken of a long-range missile being developed for underwater launch. While the Agni-V will fulfill the land leg of India’s nuclear deterrent, it is the 3,500-km-range K-4 missile that will truly complete the country’s strategic triad, providing it with a crucial strike capability from the sea. India’s Arihant-class SSBNs, the first of which is scheduled to enter service late next year, are being built to deploy four K-4s and 12 K-15s. An even longer-range variant of the K-4, with a range of 5,000 km, is also being planned.

Photo Credit: Indian Defense Research

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 13 Jun 2011 02:52

Yes, Kalam ji is talking about Point2Point single mission missile system (like a single mission supersonic UCAV types). Now, the question would be how much of reusable cost advantage over losing the entire stuff. Reason for this question is SCRAMJET reuse vs solid cl20 types cost analysis.

karan_mc · Post by **karan_mc** » 13 Jun 2011 08:11

Russian-Indian JV to develop Brahmos-2 hypersonic missile

Juggi G · Post by **Juggi G** » 14 Jun 2011 07:33

Self Deleted

Juggi G · Post by **Juggi G** » 14 Jun 2011 07:37

Balle Balle Ho Jo

BrahMos Aerospace To Add Hypersonic Missile To Lineup

BrahMos Aerospace To Add Hypersonic Missile To Lineup
Jun 13, 2011
By Jay Menon
NEW DELHI

Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace expects to start developing a new hypersonic missile, the BrahMos-2, this year.

Also, tests for the air-launched version of the existing BrahMos supersonic cruise missile are scheduled to begin next year.

“We Expect to be able to Start the Tests of BrahMos Missiles Launched from Aircraft. Various Types of Aircraft, including Su-30 MKI fighters, are expected to be armed with these missiles,” says BrahMos Aerospace Director Alexander Maksichev.

Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace Ltd. manufactures supersonic cruise missiles based on the Russian-designed NPO Mashinostroyenie 3M55 Yakhont (SS-N-26). The anti-ship missile was first launched 10 years ago on June 12 to coincide with Russia’s National Day, from India’s interim test range at Chandipur-on-sea. The name BrahMos is derived from the names of two rivers—the Brahmaputra of India and Moskva of Russia.

The existing supersonic cruise missile system, which has a range of 290 km (180 mi.), can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 lb.). It can travel at Mach 2.8 to 3.0, about 3.5 times faster than the U.S. subsonic Tomahawk. The missile, which can be configured for multiple types of platforms for use against targets on land and at sea, has already been inducted into the Indian army and navy. The air-launched version soon will be integrated on Indian air force Sukhoi fighters.

Work is also Underway to Develop a Submarine-Launched version, with Test-Firing by the End of 2011. The Sub Version will have the Same Capabilities as Earlier Variants and Will be Designed to Strike at both Land and Sea-Based Targets.

India also is Planning to Deploy the Air-Launched Version on the Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft being Developed with Russia. FGFA is another Russian-Indian joint-venture program, under which India will induct 250-300 of the advanced aircraft.

BrahMos Aerospace chief A. Sivathanu Pillai says the order book for missiles from all the three Indian armed forces is full for the next 10 years.

According to a Defense Ministry official, the Three Services have Orders worth $4 Billion.

India is the first and only country to have a Maneuverable supersonic cruise missile in its Inventory, he says.

Cain Marko · Post by **Cain Marko** » 14 Jun 2011 09:25

Good grief! They have been saying, "tests now, near future, next year etc" for the last 5 bloody years! Not a single MKI with even a single Brahmos yet - glacial speed.

CM.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Jun 2011 11:10

MTA project v2.0 ?

in between there were reports the IAF has sent two MKIs to IAPO for structural mods to handle the heavy centerline load. the earlier plan of 3 was abandoned in favour of just 1 below fuselage.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 14 Jun 2011 12:12

Just has this question pop up my head - answers will be appreciated.

Why don't we use the technology mastered with Brahmos to develop smaller land attack missiles like SLAM-ER? Can we reduce the top speed to, say Mach 1.0-1.5, or even high sub-sonic, and thereby reduce the amount of propellant required and cut down on the weight? The warhead can also be scaled down accordingly. It can equip the entire crop of DPSA and GA aircraft in IAF inventory. Would give tremendous fire-power to LCA as well.

Is seeker tech the limiting factor or something else - like the IP with Russians? But then, if the order book of Brahmos stands at USD 4Billion, I'm sure, such a SLAM would also find a willing customer in IAF. Comments, please.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Jun 2011 12:55

looking at asmp/kh31 looks like ramjet implies it has to be higher than mach2...so high subsonic or Mach1-1.5 may not be possible. mach2+ means the missile is plenty big around 700kg-900kg for the ASMP/Kh31 unlike the SLAM-ER which is lighter and probably carries a bigger warhead.

I think we already have a SLAM-ER of sorts..the popeye turbo version called "crystal maze" by the media but equipping the M2K only.

maybe the russians do not want to integrate western weapons and push the KH-xx family instead.

you are right - its high time we have a fleetwide weapon like slam-er rather than popeye for m2k , kh31 and kh59 for russian planes and something else for tejas.

bmallick · Post by **bmallick** » 14 Jun 2011 14:00

Developing a SLAM-ER, missile, would require small jet engines. That's what we would also need for Nirbhay. So you see Nirbhay is not only a single cruise missile, but would provide us technologies and sub-systems to make an entire gamut of other missiles.

A smaller version of Nirbhay with same body design, but smaller dimensions, 100-150Kg warhead and seeker changed to IIR from NAG or seeker of Brahmos Block-II, weight in the 300-450 kg class,voila you have a sub-sonic missile with 200-400 km range. Use it to knock out enemy strategic centers, ships, sub-launch from torpedo tubes, basically do whatever you want to.

So, just smile as Nirbhay matures.

Juggi G · Post by **Juggi G** » 14 Jun 2011 14:34

Agni V to Bolster India’s Missile Pack

..:: India Strategic ::..

Dr Monika Chansoria
The Author is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi.

jaladipc · Post by **jaladipc** » 14 Jun 2011 15:34

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.

Only one reporter so far got the throw weight right.Many technos criticized the mammoth design of A-III and its mere payload.No, its has a respectable payload which on a payload Vs range graph put its exact range at over 5000kms for a 1500kg. A-IV is clearly an ICBM which was understated due to its own political reasons.It retains the same throw weight capability of A-III for a 5500+Kms.

tsarkar · Post by **tsarkar** » 14 Jun 2011 17:37

rohitvats wrote:Why don't we use the technology mastered with Brahmos to develop smaller land attack missiles like SLAM-ER?

Yes, it is being reused. I strongly speculate reusable components like control systems, guidance package, GPS/INS, programmable waypoints will be used in Nirbhay or similar programs.

rohitvats wrote:Can we reduce the top speed to, say Mach 1.0-1.5, or even high sub-sonic, and thereby reduce the amount of propellant required and cut down on the weight?

No, we cant. That is why I put emphasis on reusable earlier. A ramjet design inherently requires a 700 kg design like Akash for 25 km or 3000 kg design like Brahmos. A lot of propellant is burnt to boost speed from zero to Mach 2.5-3 and sustain it at that level. So we cannot reduce propellant and lower speed in a ramjet design. The best weight optimization possible for a ramjet design is seen on Brahmos Air version. Using launch aircraft speed to dispense solid booster and reducing warhead weight.

rohitvats wrote:Is seeker tech the limiting factor or something else - like the IP with Russians?

Propulsion design is the limiting factor. All our missiles are surface launched missiles, and those propulsion designs cannot be used for A2G. Once we master turbofan tech with Nirbhay, we may see tech spinoffs. Similarly the Astra propulsion pack can be suitably modified.