Indian Missiles News & Discussions - 30 June 2022

[Yagnasri]

Also mobile systems and a huge stock of missiles due to the said reason and also will be in the enemy territory.

[Nikhil_Naya]

The QR-SAM's purpose is well known. However with all that, I still can't figure out the price tag. For another comparison, the order for 83 Tejas Mk1As was for 48,000 crores.

The regimental makeup of the QRSAM will be different from the S-400. The QRSAM regiment will have substantially higher number of missiles, vehicles, etc. as compared to the s400. This by itself will account for a price difference.
Analogy - Buying a Tata Nexon vs Buying a Safari - you can get two nexons for the price of a Safari - but if you want to buy and transport 150 Nexons vs 100 safaris the cost will start coming closer together. - Dumb analogy I know but the best I could come up with.

On another note - some great news coming soon on the missile systems. Our Rudra/Prachand will soon have sharper bite and better range of attack.
An old workhorse DP aircraft is also going to have more teeth. Ground systems tests you will hear soon, esp. in the mobile armour space with the excellent work done by our Anti Drone systems.

[NRao]

Discover the untold story of the BrahMos missile — from secret designs in Delhi to fierce Russian negotiations and strategic refusals to China. Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai, the father of BrahMos, reveals how visionary leadership, technical brilliance, and geopolitical trust created the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile. This in-depth conversation spans Gulf War lessons, submarine-launched tests, and the inside politics of India’s defence decisions. A rare look at how BrahMos redefined India’s military edge.

Check out at the tail end - a mind controlled missile "Sudarshan Chakra." In 5/10 years

[ernest]

On another note - some great news coming soon on the missile systems. Our Rudra/Prachand will soon have sharper bite and better range of attack.
An old workhorse DP aircraft is also going to have more teeth. Ground systems tests you will hear soon, esp. in the mobile armour space with the excellent work done by our Anti Drone systems.

Excellent news - is DP dual purpose? Dornier getting NASM-SR then?

[SSridhar]

DP = Deep Penetration

[arvin]

Excellent news - is DP dual purpose? Dornier getting NASM-SR then?

Think Jackie Shroff.

[ernest]

Thanks for the replies to DP. Any guesses to the teeth part?

[VinodTK]

DRDO developing 3 variants of Kusha air defence systems, induction possible by 2030

To further fortify the country’s air defence system with long range home grown solutions, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing three variants of project Kusha, with their phased induction into the armed forces likely to be completed around 2030.

While Kusha M1 will be equipped with short range missile systems to intercept incoming threats including from aircrafts, and missiles; Kusha M2 with more than medium range surface to air missiles (MRSAM); and Kusha M3 will have much more than 400 km hit reach, top DRDO sources told businessline.

Extended Range Air Defence System Kusha is being billed as the indigenous answer to Russia’s S-500 and the DRDO is confident that it will outsmart in terms of capabilities the S-400 Indian Air Force (IAF) effectively deployed to neutralise cruise missiles and kamikaze drones Pakistan fired during the Operation Sindoor.

Kusha is being designed to offer multi-layered space protection, with one system launching several interceptor missiles to cover a stretch between 100 to 200 kms against a spectrum of aerial threats.

DRDO top sources said that while the kill vehicle will remain the same for all the three variants of Kusha AD Systems, the variants will have different boosters for different ranges.

The first development trials of Kusha M1, they said, is expected to take place in September this year, and the possible induction into the armed forces by 2028. For speedier development, the trial of Kusha M2 will subsequently follow next year. And Kusha M3 trial may take place by 2027, DRDO sources emphasised.

Kinetic projectiles

The DRDO hopes to complete the induction of the extended range AD System Kusha by 2030, offering a robust wall against kinetic projectiles. This would also indicate growing aatmanirbharta in the air defence systems, they observed.

According to media reports from Moscow, S-500, inducted into 1st Special Purpose Air and Missile Defence Russian Army in 2021, has a range of less than 500 km and can engage at an altitude of up to 200 kms.

India is likely to get two more squadrons of S-400 Triumf AD missile system, rechristened as “Sudarshan Chakra” by the armed force, by 2026 to complete acquisition of a total five squadrons as part around $5.4 billion deal inked with Russia in 2018.

S-400 is considered as one of the best AD Systems in the world, possessed also by China and Turkey.

[Hriday]

^^

Extended Range Air Defence System Kusha is being billed as the indigenous answer to Russia’s S-500 and the DRDO is confident that it will outsmart in terms of capabilities the S-400

The few improvements over S-400 I can imagine are possibly,
1. Longer range.
2. AESA seeker in missile (We have it in Akash NG).
3. Gimballed warhead similar to in AAD missile.
4. Sideward attitude control motors similar to Patriot PAC-3 missile. We had it in VSHORAD missile.
Any thing else?

One thing that makes S-400 amongst the best is that it quickly compares target position from the fire control radar on the ground between the reflected radar wave from target received by missile and select the most probable of the one. And that too with a pencil thin beam data uplink to missile to avoid jamming. Had we demonstrated these two capabilities?

[srin]

^^ I presume this would have an SFDR motor to increase the range (like Astra Mk3). And a dual-mode seeker (like Stunner missile).