Future Astra is not based on the Brahmos motor at all. If anything there are lessons learnt from Akash. But the motor and fuel in general is very different.
Meanwhile, Akash NG will most likely be canisterized. The inside of that canister (for testing its short burn motor) measures 367 mm X 367 mm X 4863 mm. There will be a guide rail on the top, and one wing rail each on the two sides. Draw your own conclusions.
SAAW is AFAICT "Smart Anti Airfield Weapon". It is a self identifying name. I don't think it means anything else. It is meant to crater airfields and stop adversary aircraft from operating effectively
@Indranil, of course it will be a different motor. Brahmos NG will likely be 50cm dia while Astra is 17.8cm dia.
Personally I'm not aware of any successful ramjet application by DRDO yet. All I'm saying is if it participates in all new engine being developed for Brahmos NG then it could help other programs. After Meteor, even LREW is moving to ramjet. So logical to start thinking of future Astra development.
Instead of the usual predictions I see on BRF about what will happen in 20 or 50 years, let me predict what will happen in next day of two and bet on it..
My point was the organisation and management structure and style of the BMos Corp. which led to success beyond just developing an anti-ship missile.The JV Corp. has taken it to greater heights with the variants.Ship,sub,land and shortly air-launched versions.Land and mountain attack versions with a new smaller BMos-NG/L version and BMos-H (hyper) in the works.
The quality of the missile too when compared with BMos.I pointed out some time ago the poor body of NB,shoddy riveting,etc.Hard to understand when most of BMos is also made by Indian pvt. industry.The last failure was supposedly due to sub-std. recycled material used ..
Let's hope that we've turned the project around and learn to network with other successful programmes so that we (DPSUS/Labs) partake in a "success mantra"!
Once perfected and in production,NB,BMos and the glide bombs will give us a superb capability where all 3 could be launched from multiple platforms of the 3 services.
JTull wrote:@Indranil, of course it will be a different motor. Brahmos NG will likely be 50cm dia while Astra is 17.8cm dia.
Personally I'm not aware of any successful ramjet application by DRDO yet. All I'm saying is if it participates in all new engine being developed for Brahmos NG then it could help other programs. After Meteor, even LREW is moving to ramjet. So logical to start thinking of future Astra development.
Phillip... a minor quibble. Is it that Brahmos has critical tech from the Russians ..being the reason for its success? for nirbhay which is a totaly indegenous we are still to master that critical tech?
Nein! We have taken the mizzile to undreamed of heights,improved upon it a lot.It was -if you read Dr.P's book,on the shelf,still awaiting a patron to complete the programme. Of course the main key component ,the engine is Russian,but there's much else to the JV that we've brought to the table,and are marching towards hyper-BMos. It is the style of management that delivers results that is the important factor.The BMos JV like any other corporate entity must deliver results,if not the axe falls on the incompetent.This NEVER happms with our DPSUs and their chiefs,boffins,beancounters,etc.,who lead a charmed life in "Never-Never" land.
No idea about the desi engine development. I don't think that a proper search was made for engines from the pvt. sector,allowing it to enter this domain after the US' sanctions which delayed both the LCA and GSLV programmes. That was the moment for throwing open the doors for desi projects to replace firang defence tech en masse. It never percolated down to our industrial base. The simple truth.NB is being developed by the DRDO in toto,BMos by the BMos Corp.,where Ru is a JV partner along with the DRDO.There's big diff. between the two .
PS:Asked before,what chances for a naval Akash,now that ti is canisterised.B-8 has emerged,supposedly a JV but in truth a firang system,
Delhi Defence Review @delhidefence 2m2 minutes ago
NEWS: The @DRDO_India developed subsonic Nirbhay ground launched cruise missile was tested earlier this morning at 1030 hrs. More details are awaited. The missile has a strike range of over a 1000 km.
In a sense the failures were good, because we saw three different root causes being nailed down, imagine if the actuator delay for the fin happened from the production lot, we would have been screwed
