India
successfully test fired a sub-sonic cruise missile Nirbhay off the Odisha coast
on Monday.The 1,000-km range missile was fired for a shorter range from a
launch pad from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Balasore
district, said informed sources. Indigenously developed by the Defence Research
Development Organisation (DRDO), the Nirbhay missile can carry warheads of up
to 300 kg, the sources added. It can travel with a turbofan or turbojet engine
and is guided by a highly advanced inertial navigation system.
The Nirbhay
is India’s first indigenously produced cruise missile. The missile similar in
appearance to the U.S. Tomahawk and the Russian Club SS-N-27 with its
cylindrical fuselage. So far it is unclear whether the missile will be ground,
sea, or air-launched, but its tests suggest at least a ground launched version.
Additionally, the DRDO is said to be working on a road-mobile truck platform.
Other reports suggest the Nirbhay is due for deployment on submarines. The
Nirbhay is believed to be 6.0 m in length, 0.5 m in diameter, and 1,500 to
1,600 kg in launch weight. The payload is believed to be around 450 kg of
HE/submunitions, but a small nuclear warhead with a 12 kT yield is also
possible.
The missile
uses a solid propellant booster motor that is jettisoned shortly after launch,
switching over to a turbojet engine with a cruise speed of 0.65 Mach and a
reported range of 800-1,000 km.The missile is guided by INS/GPS with an active-radar
terminal seeker, and its accuracy could be improved both by the development of
an indigenous Indian navigation satellite system and the potential of
integrating the seeker from the BrahMos missile, which could be tested in
December 2016. The first flight test of the Nirhbay in 2013 had to be aborted
when the missile veered off course, but the second test in 2014 was successful
to a range of 1,000 km. A 2015 test of the missile was terminated as a result
of a malfunction in the guidance system.7 Another test of the Nirbhay is
planned for some time in 2016.
Specifications
Type : Long-range, all-weather,
subsonic cruise missile.
Originated
from: India
Possessed
by: India
In service:
In development
Class: Subsonic
Cruise Missile
Length: 6.0 m
Launch
weight: 1,500-1,6000 kg
Payload:
450 kg
Warhead: HE,
submunitions, 12 kT nuclear potentially
Propulsion:
Turbojet
Manufacturer:
DRDO
Mass : 1,500 kilograms
Diameter: 0.52 m
Warhead: Conventional
or Nuclear (200-300 kg)
Engine: Rocket
booster & Turbofan / Turbojet
Wingspan : 2.7 m
Operational
range: 1,000 km - 1,500 km
Speed: Mach
0.6–Mach 0.7
Guidance system: INS IRNSS
Launch platform:
Vertical Launch System
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