DRDO Anti-Radiation Missile

The New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (NGARM)[2] also known as DRDO Anti-Radiation missile (ARM) is an air-to-surface, anti-radiation missile under development by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to provide an air superiority, tactical capability for the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft.[3] It is designed primarily for suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), that can be launched from a range of altitudes[4][5] for destroying enemy surveillance radars, tracking and communication systems.[6][7] This state-of-the-art high speed missile developed in India is first-of-its-kind in the IAF arsenal.[8][9] The missile will be jointly produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).[10]

NGARM
TypeAir-to-surface anti-radiation missile[1]
Place of originIndia
Service history
In serviceIn service
Production history
ManufacturerBharat Dynamics Limited
Bharat Electronics Limited
Defence Research and Development Organisation
Premier Explosives Limited
Specifications
Mass140 kg (310 lb)
Length5.5 m (18 ft)
WarheadPre-fragmented warhead
Detonation
mechanism
Optical proximity fuze
EngineDual-pulsed rocket motor
PropellantSolid fuel
Operational
range
100–150 km[1]
Guidance
system
Mid-course: Inertial navigation system with GPS/NavIC satellite guidance and passive homing Terminal: Millimeter-wave active radar homing
Accuracy10 m CEP
Launch
platform

Description

Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) is the primary lead agency that is carrying out the design, development works of the air-to-surface anti-radiation missile with inputs coming from Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL), High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL).[11] Many subsystem level developmental works were outsourced to private sector players.[12] Software Labs of the Indian Air Force (IAF) helped in the integration of DRDO ARM with Sukhoi Su-30MKI while the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Nasik Division did the AKU-58 launcher modification which undertook extensive wind-tunnel tests at National Trisonic Aerodynamic Facilities (NTAF) division of National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru.[13][14][15]

DRDO ARM has a range of 100–150 km[16] which is made to be integrated with Sukhoi Su-30MKI as its primary test platform, although can be used with Dassault Mirage 2000, SEPECAT Jaguar, HAL Tejas and HAL Tejas Mark 2/MWF in future.[1] According to the then Director of Research Centre Imarat (RCI), G. Satheesh Reddy, the missile will feature a millimetre wave seeker (mmW)[17] transmitting on frequencies of 30 Gigahertz (GHz) and above while capable of lock-on before launch and lock-on after launch modes.[18][19] Mid-course guidance is accomplished through inertial navigation system (INS) combined with GPS/NAVIC satellite guidance through digital filtering as fall back to correct accumulated errors and a passive homing head (PHH) seeker which is developed by DLRL that can detect radio frequency emissions from 100 km away. PHH is a wide-band receiver system that has a compact front-end structure due to the use of monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology for identification of radiation emitting sources.[20][21][22]

The missile is a single-stage, approximately 5.5 meter in length and 140 kg[23] of weight with cruciform wing surface to increase high maneuverability and to give constant aerodynamic characteristics similar to Astra BVRAAM.[2] It uses pre-fragmented warhead with optical proximity fuze and is powered by a dual-pulsed solid rocket motor made by Premier Explosives Limited (PEL) under technology transfer from DRDO.[24][25] The dual-pulsed solid rocket motor reduces the overall reaction time while widening the targeting envelope as well as the engagement capability.[26]

Development and trials

Development had begun by April 2012 at Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL).[27] The project was officially approved in December 2012 with a budget of ₹317.2 crore (equivalent to ₹481 crore or US$67 million in 2019) with project completion by 2017.[28][29] The feasibility studies were done during the period 2012-2013 with the aim is to develop a fully indigenous tactical, anti-radiation capable missile for the Indian Air force (IAF) which is comparable to AGM-88E AARGM, MAR-1, Kh-31P and better than Martel or Kh-25MP.[18] From 2014, the development of missile picked up interest of the IAF.[14] As of 2014, missile design and hardware development is in progress with first successful flight trial to happen before year 2017.[30] IAF was initially very concerned with the higher weight and shorter range of new missile compare to the western ones due to the use of bulky Russian made radio frequency (RF) seekers.[31] IAF at the same time was also negotiating with the USA for 1,500 AGM 88E which IAF was planning to induct in the next five years.[10][32] The technologies that were developed by DRDO for NGARM are wide-band passive seeker, milli-metric wave active seeker, radome for the seekers and dual-pulsed propulsion system which are mostly lessons learnt during the development of Astra and Barak 8.[32]

The Captive Flight Trial–1 (CFT–1) of DRDO ARM was completed on April/May 2016 by no. 20 Squadron of IAF which checked the performance of seeker, navigation and control system, structural capability and aerodynamic vibrations while the Drop Flight Trial (DFT) was completed by December 2016 with the missile released by Sukhoi Su-30MKI at a speed of 0.8 Mach, from 6.5 km altitude.[33][34] Further carriage flight test was carried out to check mechanical/electrical integration as well as software interfacing of the missile before the maiden flight on 18 January 2018, where the missile was successfully flight tested for the first time on parameters such as auto-launch sequence, store separation, control guidance, aerodynamics, thermal batteries, airframe and propulsion without a seeker which were all proven successful.[9] NGARM was fired from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI over Bay of Bengal off the coast of Odisha that hit the designated target with a high degree of accuracy.[35][36] The missile achieved an accuracy of within 10m CEP covering a range of 100 km.[15] The missile can strike at distances double the intended range depending upon the altitude. NGARM will under go a series of carriage and release flight trials to check the performance of seekers against different range of targets. Next trials during the period of July to August 2019 will be conducted initially to check the performance of indigenous passive seeker developed by DLRL with further test for an active seeker at later stage.[14] While the crucial sensor technology is yet to be fully mastered by DRDO, the IAF wants fast track development of NGARM due to urgent requirement of newer anti-radiation missile.[3][37] NGARM developmental trials will resume from 2020 after a gap of two years.[38]

Future development

DRDO is planning to bring further software improvements to handle a larger variety of targets under various operational conditions while developing a separate ground-based variant to be launched from mobile launcher.[10][14]

See also

References
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  2. Aroor, Shiv. "After 'Peacetime' Air Strikes, 5 Homegrown Weapons Programs Deserve Govt Priority". Livefist. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  3. "Indian Air Force Demands Fast-Track Development Of Anti-Radiation Missile; DRDO To Conduct Pending Trails". swarajyamag.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  4. Times, EurAsian (25 January 2019). "India Tests New Anti-Radiation NGARM Missile To Destroy Surveillance Targets". EurAsian Times: Latest Asian, Middle-East, EurAsian, Indian News. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  5. "DRDO Bets Big On Indigenous Capabilities". Daily Defence News. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  6. "DRDO Tests New Anti-Radiation Missile". www.defense-aerospace.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  7. "DRDO Makes Country Proud By Successfully Testing Anti-Radiation Missile Ahead Of R-Day". indiatimes.com. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  8. "India set to test fire Next-Gen Anti-Radiation Missile". East Coast Daily English. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  9. "DRDO's Maiden trial of anti-radiation missile in coastal Odisha a success". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  10. Raghuvanshi, Vivek (8 August 2017). "Indian AF Says New Indigenous Missile Will Be Too Heavy". Defense News. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  11. "Drdl". drdo-ada-aeroindia2019. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  12. Raghu, K. (14 June 2009). "DRDO turns to local vendors to save costs, expedite projects". Livemint. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  13. "DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (DRDO) in 2016 | ADU". www.aviation-defence-universe.com. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  14. "India's next-gen anti-radiation missile set for trials". The Week. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  15. "Next-gen desi anti-radiation missile set for trials with passive seeker". OnManorama. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  16. Aroor, Shiv. "REVEALED: India's Naval Anti-Ship Missile Breaks Cover At #DefExpo2020". Livefist Defence. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  17. "#SEAD - Hitting where it hurts". EU Reporter. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  18. "Indian Air Force's New NARGM Anti-Radiation Missile Detailed". www.monch.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  19. Jha, Saurav. "Seeking the future: An interview with Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Director Research Centre Imarat". News18.com. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  20. "DRDO's Maiden trial of anti-radiation missile in coastal Odisha a success". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  21. Jha, Saurav (19 April 2018). "A Closer Look At DRDO's New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile". Delhi Defence Review. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  22. DRDO (17 February 2020). "NGARM (PHH)". Defence Research and Development Organisation.
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  25. "Premier Explosives surges 15% on order win from Israel company". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  26. "India's Next Gen Anti-Radiation Missile Likely To Begin Trials In July or August". www.defenseworld.net. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  27. "India developing radar-destroying Anti-Radiation Missile". DNA India. Press Trust of India. 29 April 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  28. "Fifth report of the Standing Committee on Defence (2014–2015)" (PDF). New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secretariat. December 2014. p. 58.
  29. Y. Mallikarjun (26 January 2013). "Anti-radiation missile by DRDO to be ready in 3–5 years". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  30. "Interview with Dr Avinash Chander, DRDO Chief and Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister - Saurav Jha' Blog". News18. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  31. "Air Weapons: India Tries To Survive A Broken ARM". www.strategypage.com. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  32. defenceupdate (18 February 2016). "DRDO NGARM:- India's Next Gen Radar Destroying Anti Radiation Missile". Indian Defence Update. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  33. "Year End Review: Achievements of Ministry of Defence – India Strategic". Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  34. "DRDO To Begin Flight Trials Of Anti-Radiation Missile In 2016". www.defenseworld.net. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  35. Pandit, Rajat (24 January 2019). "India tests new anti-radiation missile to destroy enemy radars". The Times of India.
  36. "India testfires indigenous enemy radar-buster missile". www.aninews.in. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  37. Apr 1, Chethan Kumar | TNN |; 2019; Ist, 01:56. "Missile programme comes to aid of delay-plagued DRDO | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 February 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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