Arms-2010-1

C O N T E N T S1(51).2010

Director GeneralEvgeny Osipov

Deputy Director GeneralVyacheslav Schesnovich

Executive DirectorOleg Perevoschikov

Marketing DirectorAlexander Kiryanov

Commercial DirectorMikhail Baydak

Executive EditorAlexey Makurin

Production EditorEduard Voytenko

EditorsAlexander VelovichAlexander GudkoSvetlana KomagorovaYaroslav Parkhomenko

Marketing ManagerDmitry KuprinYana Zhvirbo

Art DirectorAlvina Kirillova

DesignersAlexander CheredaykoAlexander StrelyaevElena Shishova

IT ManagerPavel Chernyak

Photos and graphics in this issue:Vladimir Scherbakov, Marina Lystseva, Alexey Mikheev, Vitaly Kuzmin, NTV channel, "Sukhoi", JSC Ship-building Yard "Severnaya Verf", KBP Instrument Design Bureau

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ARMS, 2010ADDRESSP.O. Box 77, Moscow, 125057, RussiaTel.: + 7 495 626-52-11Fax.: + 7 499 151-61-50E-mail: [email protected]

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AIR DEFENCE

8 Missiles

over Hindustan

LAND FORCES

24 KBP-designed

modernized fight-

ing compartment

of the BMP-2 —

an efficient way

of upgrading

armoured vehicles

NAVY

6 OPK and new directions

in MTC

MARKETS

28 India’s Armed Forces’

weapons modernisa-

tion programmes

in 2009

MILITARY AVIATION

2 Russian arms exports

on the rise

COOPERATIONS

4 Sukhoi PAK FA:

first flight

COOPERATIONS

2 ● ARMS Defence Technologies Review

AIRCRAFT TOP THE LIST

Military aircraft have been best

sellers in the recent years, account-

ing for 50% of all exports in 2009.

According to Rosoboronexport,

Army, Air Defense and Navy weap-

onry made up 19%, 13% and 13.7%

of the sales, respectively. All the oth-

er weaponry types accounted for

the remaining 4% of the total figure.

Rosoboronexport spokes-

men have repeatedly stated that

the Russian-made Air Defense sys-

tems, especially the S-300 and

the new S-400 Triumf, are in high

demand. Anatoly Isaikin stated

that Russia will begin foreign sales

of S-400s only after it supplies its

own forces with the required num-

ber of such systems. Nevertheless,

Rosoboronexport head says that

“preparatory negotiations are un-

der way”, which has already result-

ed in setting of preliminary terms

for potential deliveries. “Such de-

liveries, however, are not going

to take place neither in the com-

ing months nor the next year”, Mr

Isaikin highlighted.

The S-400 air defense missile sys-

tem was designed to engage aer-

ial targets including aircraft, UAVs

and cruise missiles both in the air

and in the outer space as well as

to carry out non-strategic missile

defense missions. The new Triumf

system, meant to replace the S-200

and S-300, has an improved capa-

bility to destroy new types of aer-

ial targets, including Stealth air-

craft, small-sized cruise missiles

and ballistic missiles with a range

within 3,500 km and a speed of up

to 4.8 km per second.

THE UNIQUE FIGHTING VEHICLE

Rosoboronexport sees the Tank

Support Fighting Vehicle (BMPT) as

RUSSIAN ARMS EXPORTS ON THE RISE

In 2009, Russia sold abroad $7.4 billion worth of military equipment and technology, a figure 10% high-

er compared to that in 2008. The growth trend is expected to persist in 2010 as well, as the contract

portfolio for the next few years currently exceeds $34 billion. In 2009 alone, Russia signed $15 billion

worth of arms contracts, Anatoly Isaikin, head of Russia’s exclusive arms trader Rosoboronexport, said

at a news conference on January 28.

COOPERATIONS

1(51).2010 ● 3

a promising item for the interna-

tional arms market, among other ad-

vanced programs. Mr Isaikin called

the vehicle unique, saying “I know

of no other country operating a sim-

ilar piece of equipment”. The ve-

hicle has high firepower and of-

fers excellent protection against an-

titank weapons, Rosoboronexport

CEO added.

Despite its incredible perfor-

mance, the BMPT hasn’t been ad-

opted by the Russian Armed Forces

so far. The vehicle, built on the T-90

MBT chassis, is fitted with a dual

30mm automatic cannon, four AT

guided missile launchers, a heavy

machine gun and two automatic

grenade launchers. The BMPT is ca-

pable of engaging targets at a dis-

tance of up to 5 km as well as wiping

the enemy off the surrounding area

with a radius of up to 3 km by firing

its guns and grenade launchers.

The vehicle can simultaneously

track and engage 5 ground targets,

while featuring an improved armor

compared to a tank.

INDIA: A MAJOR PARTNER

The main buyers of Russian arms

and equipment are India. Algeria,

China, Venezuela, Malaysia and Syria.

In the near future, India is going

to remain Russia’s top military-tech-

nical partner thanks to both the cur-

rently effective and future deals in-

cluding a tender for 126 fighter air-

craft for the Indian Air Force.

Rosoboronexport CEO is sure that

the Russian-offered Mikoyan MiG-35

is destined to win the Indian tender.

“By now, the competition is in its mid-

term, but no contender has quit so

far. Let the best aircraft win the race.

We are sure our MiG will make it, as

it meets all the requirements set

forward by the Indian Air Force”,

Anatoly Isaikin said.

The MiG-35 belongs to a new uni-

fied combat aircraft family along-

side with the MiG-29K/MiG-29KUB

sea-borne fighters and MiG-29M/

M2 multirole tactical fighters.

The Medium Multi-Role Combat

Aircraft (MMRCA) tender for 126

fighters was announced in August

2007 and obliges the winner com-

pany to supply the Indian Air Force

with 18 ready-built aircraft, with

the rest of the fighters to be lin-

cense-produced by HAL enterpris-

es in India.

According to Indian sourc-

es, the deal will total Rs 420 billion

(over $10 billion). The Russian MiG-

35 is rivaled by the Rafale offered by

France’s Dassault Aviation, Gripen

by Sweden’s SAAB, U.S. Boeing F/A-

18 and Lockheed Martin F-16, and

the Eurofighter Typhoon made

by EADS.

Rosoboronexport CEO also men-

tioned that an additional agreement

will be signed soon to upgrade

the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft

carrying cruiser for India. The con-

tract needs a little more time to be

finalized and stipulates the amount

of work and the price. Anatoly

Isaikin said the deal is a complex

task for the Russian shipbuilding

industry which is new to produc-

ing air carrying ships. In the past,

all vessels of this class were built

in Nikolayev, Ukraine. “We are ab-

solutely new to such work. Only

the hull will remain the same. We

are going to make a totally new air

carrier out of it following the cus-

tomer’s preferences”, he concluded.

The over $1.5 billion contract

to modernize the cruiser which had

been sold to India, was signed back

in 2004. Initially, the Indian Navy ex-

pected to receive the ship in 2008,

but delivery was later shifted to 2010

after the required amount of work

had grown.

As for China, Rosoboronexport

expects lower sales to this country

in the future. “That is quite natural.

China’s defense industry is develop-

ing rapidly”, Anatoly Isaikin noticed,

adding that China’s share in Russian

defense exports had gone down

to 18% in 2009 and could drop fur-

ther to as low as 15%.

ARMS FOR NATO AND ARAB

NATIONS

Russia is negotiating possible

supplies of a variety of wepons

to NATO countries, Anatoly Isaikin

said, omitting the countries’ names

and delivery terms, though. He

mentioned, however, that Russian-

made arms are still sold to Greece,

Turkey and East European coun-

tries. The latter, however, account

for upgrade and repair deals for

USSR-supplied equipment rather

than sales.

According to Mr Isaikin, Ros obo-

ron export is prepared to supply

weaponry to Iraq and Afghanistan

provided that the U.S. gives its con-

sent. Military-technical cooperation

with Arab nations, including Lybia

and Bahrain, also offers Russia favor-

able prospects.

WAY IS FREE FOR PARTNERSHIP

WITH IRAN

Iran-related issues, which

keep topping the global political

news, weren’t left out by Anatoly

Isaikin during his news confer-

ence, as the Middle Eastern coun-

try is known to be willing to buy

S-300 air defense systems from

Russia. Although the deal to sup-

ply Iran with S-300s was signed

in December 2005, no formal an-

nouncements have yet been made

on the execution of the contract.

The Rosoboronexport CEO poin-

ted out that Iran is not subject

to the UN arms embargo. “Nothing

is standing in the way of further mil-

itary-technical cooperation between

Russia and Iran”, Mr Isaikin said, add-

ing that Iran had never violated its

commitments.

Anatoly Isaikin also gave a sep-

arate comment on the incident in-

volving the Russian Sukhoi Su-27

fighter which failed to arrive in time

at an air show in Bahrain last January,

as it hadn’t been permitted to fly

over Iran. “There was a bureaucrat-

ic glitch. The Iranian ground control

didn’t receive a timely permit from

the authorities to allow the flight”,

Mr Isaikin explained.

The Russian Su-27 was due to ar-

rive in Bahrain for an internation-

al airshow scheduled for January 19.

The fighter was initially supposed

to fly through the Iranian airspace,

but the country’s authorities re-

fused to grant a pass. Intermediation

of the two countries’ foreign minis-

tries, however, had helped resolve

the situation, allowing the aircraft

to finally make its way to Bahrain

on January 20. According to Anatoly

Isaikin, the Iranian government apol-

ogized for the incident after the con-

troversy had been settled.

MILITARY AVIATION


SUKHOI PAK FA:FIRST FLIGHT

n 29 January Sukhoi

PAK FA (Advanced

Aviation System of Tac-

tical Avaition), also

know as the T-50, per-

formed its maiden flight from the

airfield of Komsomolsk-on-Amur

Aircraft Production Plant (KnAAPO)

in the Russian Far East.

Sukhoi director general Mikhail

Pogosyan commented: "Today we

have started the flight test pro-

gramme of the 5th generation

[fighter] aircraft. This is a big suc-

cess of Russia's science and design-

er's thought. This achievement was

made possible by industrial co-op-

eration of more than a hundred en-

terprises. The PAK FA programme

advances Russia's aircraft and co-

operating industries to the new lev-

el of technological quality. These

aircraft, alongside with modernised

aviation systems of the forth gener-

ation will determine the capabilities

of the Russian Air Force in the com-

ing decades. Sukhoi company plans

further development of the PAK FA

programme together with Indian

partners. I am confident that our

joint project will outperform west-

ern competitors by efficiency-to-

cost criteria, and not only will allow

to strengthen the defence might

of Russia and India, but will take

a decent place on the world market".

The first flight of the new fight-

er lasted for 47 minutes with Sukhoi

test pilot Sergey Bogdan at the con-

trols and was declared a complete

success. Bogdan shared his impres-

sions of the first flight: "We have

made initial evaluation of the air-

craft's controllability, engine oper-

ations and functioning of the main

systems. The standard procedure

of landing gear retraction/exten-

sion was performed. The aircraft

showed itself favourably at all phas-

es of the planned flight programme.

It is easy and comfortable to control".

The flight test are anticipated to take

about five-six years.

Ph

oto

by

NT

V c

han

nel

Ph

oto

by

"Su

kho

i"

O


nited Industrial Cor po-

ration (ОPK) compris-

es JSC Ship-building

Yard “Severnaya Verf”,

the largest Russian en-

terprise on the construction of sur-

face ships. For the period of almost

100-year service in the RF Navy,

“Severnaya Verf” has constructed

more than 200 combat ships, with

total draught exceeding 500’000

tons. In the present day the yard

performs the major delivery scope

of surface ships (corvette and frig-

ate class) upon the State Defence

Order for the RF Navy, it is a usu-

al participant of Military-Technical

Cooperation (MTC). For the last

years, OPK yards have exported ships

in China (pr.956E, 956EM) and India

(pr.1135.6).

Generally, the yard performs the

repair operations of ships being pre-

viously constructed at it. Among

them the special place is taken by

yacht “Rossia” of Administrative

Department of the President

of the Russian Federation (2002).

At the present moment, the yard

is completing the repair operations

of frigate “Vice Admiral Kulakov” be-

ing a part of the Northern Fleet.

The yard has experienced in re-

pair of ships being constructed at

the other yards, among which is a fa-

mous cruiser “Avrora” (1984-87). It al-

lows the yard to take a new MTC pro-

duction sphere in naval engineer-

ing — repair and modernization.

For many years patrol ships of

pr. 1159Т (frigate “Koni 2” — as per

NATO classification) are flagman

ships and small-size missile boats

pr.1234Ye (corvette “Nanucka 2” —

per NATO classification) are ma-

jor impact of three groups (Fleets)

of Democratic People's Republic

of Algeria (DPRA), located along the

coast of the Mediterranean Sea. With

its draught, ships are provided with

high levels of propulsion and sea-

keeping characteristics, balanced

systems of multipurpose weapon.

Taking into account high mili-

tary characteristics and moderniza-

tion capabilities of ships, DPRA Naval

Command favours to perform ex-

pensive repair and modernization in-

stead of purchasing of new ships.

To implement the Contract with

DPRA, JSC SBY “Severnaya Verf” was

the first yard in ship-building indus-

try, that has performed a complex of

OPK AND NEW DIRECTIONS IN MTCU

Corvette p-1234Е before repairing

Andrey Fomichev

NAVY

NAVY

1(51).2010 ● 7

operations upon the creation of sys-

tem of organization and design-en-

gineering support based on CALS-

technology (Continuous Acquisition

and Life cycle Support). Electronic

models of ships, being constructed

almost thirty years ago, and subject-

ed to repair, allow to perform the fol-

lowing:

– perform fair Damage Survey and

describe the ship state per com-

partments;

– enter the repair process in Com-

mon Electronic Informational

Space of Yard;

– create 3D-model of hull, which

provides possibility to develop

separate hull sections, subjected

to replacement assembled;

– optimize processes of costs and

components purchase manage-

ment;

– organize the integrations of all

participants (Client — Designer —

Yard — Components Suppliers —

Operation and Disposition) of Life

Cycle of Article having passed

modernization-recovery repair,

and having been not accompa-

nied with electronic documenta-

tion yet, in Information Space ON-

line. This let shift the ships opera-

tion to the state-of art and satisfy

Client’s perspective requirements.

For the first time in the ship-

building industry, at the absence

of mould loft data (in particular per

stabilizers bays and propeller shaft

boss), “re-engineering” operations

have been performed with appli-

cation of laser scanners and follow-

ing 3D-modelling. Basing on the re-

ceived data, tasks of cutting of plates

to be replaced have been integrated

in the Yard Management Common

System as well as plates bending

means have been developed.

The above mentioned became

possible due to the long-term sched-

uled integration of digital intellectu-

al technologies into the production

process.

Formation of the modern repair

system has required taking the de-

cisions upon the complex of process

and metallurgical tasks:

– for the first time in native ship-build-

ing industry, progressive gauges

have been purchased, implement-

ed and utilized. They are used to

inspect the thickness of hull metal

without painting removing that al-

lows to increase the damage survey

quality and respectively, the repair

process itself due to the increasing

of measuring points number with-

out mechanical grinding;

– pipes cleaning process has been

greatly changed;

– decision has been taken up-

on the repair of coupling points

of steel hull and light-alloy su-

perstructure under the conditions

of significant corrosion and wear-

ing of metal.

Providing the repair quality level,

which corresponds to the world one,

increasing of labour efficiency and

correspondingly, competitive price,

JSC SBY “Severnaya Verf” for sure

takes a new sphere in surface ship-

building: repair and modernization

of previously exported naval engi-

neering of any production.

At the present moment, first

two ships of projects 1159Т and

1234Ye are on sea trials, repair

of another two ships is proceed-

ed. Together with FSI Ros obo-

ronexport the yard is now review-

ing the possibility to negotiate

new contracts.

P-901 before repairing

P-901 after repairing

Cruiser Aurora

AIR DEFENCE


MISSILESOVER HINDUSTANThe international community has always marvelled at the ener-The international community has always marvelled at the ener-

gy with which Indian scientists, software and hardware experts gy with which Indian scientists, software and hardware experts

in weapons systems have been moving on, overtaking and some-in weapons systems have been moving on, overtaking and some-

times even surpassing achievements of the leading world powers. times even surpassing achievements of the leading world powers.

This is well illustrated by the indigenously developed nuclear weap-This is well illustrated by the indigenously developed nuclear weap-

ons and rather modern rocket industry. The majority of missile-ons and rather modern rocket industry. The majority of missile-

related projects for the Ministry of Defence of India are run under related projects for the Ministry of Defence of India are run under

the so called Integrated Guided Missile Development Program the so called Integrated Guided Missile Development Program

focused on the development and series production of several mis-focused on the development and series production of several mis-

sile weapon types including various-range ballistic missiles.sile weapon types including various-range ballistic missiles.

AIR DEFENCE

1(51).2010 ● 9

Vladimir Sherbakov

AIR DEFENCE


INTEGRATED GUIDED MISSILE

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

The Integrated Guided Missile

Development Program (IGMDP) is

believed to have commenced of-

ficially in 1983. The then military

and political leadership of India set

as its main objective the develop-

ment of the national rocket indus-

try to a level where the principle

of self-reliance would be realisable.

Moreover, experience to be gained

during implementation of that pro-

gramme could be utilised when

developing other types of missile

weapon systems.

At the present time the Integrated

Guided Missile Development

Program encompasses five proj-

ects: — strategic missile systems

armed with the Agni-family inter-

mediate-range ballistic missiles and

their modifications; — tactical/the-

atre missile systems armed with

the Prithvi-family short-range bal-

listic missiles and their modifica-

tions; — air defence missile systems

armed with the Akash and Trishul

surface-to-air guided missiles; —

antitank guided weapon system

armed with the Nag guided mis-

sile. Sometimes the BrahMos mis-

sile system is also included into this

Program, which is incorrect since

its development has been started

much later within the framework of a

joint Indo-Russian programme ex-

ecuted by the BrahMos Aerospace

Limited co-founded by the Russian

Military Industrial Corporation

“NPO Mashinostroyenia” based

near Moscow and Indian Ministry

of Defence’s DRDO (Defence

Re search and Development

Organisation). The Integrated Guided

Missile Development Program has

been lately complemented with

the Astra air-to-air guided missile de-

velopment project as well.

It should be noted here that

Delhi was virtually forced into the re-

alisation of the above Program

by the then policy of a number

of Western countries attempting

to restrict weapons upgrading by

armies in most advanced so-called

“third-world” countries by introduc-

ing the Missile Technology Control

Regime (MTCR). In addition, after

testing its nuclear charge on 18 May

1974 India was submitted to a num-

ber of sanctions which further ham-

pered the development of combat

missile systems.

The IGMDP main provisions

were prepared by Dr. Abdul Kalam,

the then head of the Defence

Research and Development

Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad, lat-

er elected President of India, com-

monly named ever since “the fa-

ther of India’s missile programme. It

took six months for Dr. Abdul Kalam

and his DRDL colleagues to sort

out all those issues with the as-

sistance of the scientific advisor

to the Minister of Defence and DRDO

head Dr. V.S. Arunchalam. On com-

pleting their work they reported its

results to the Minister of Defence

and Prime Minister of India.

It is interesting enough that in the

beginning there was no mention-

ing of a single programme: devel-

opment of missile systems armed

with the Nag antitank guided mis-

sile, Akash and Trishul surface-to-

air missiles as well as Prithvi and

Indian carrier rockets

AIR DEFENCE

1(51).2010 ● 11

Agni ballistic missiles was planned

as a row of unrelated projects im-

plemented consecutively one af-

ter another. However, Minister

of Defence R. Venkataraman insisted

that Dr. Kalam and Dr. Arunchalam

combined all those projects in-

to the unique Integrated Program.

The Program officially started

on 27 July 1983.

A special board headed by Dr.

Abdul Kalam was set up to man-

age practical implementation of the

Integrated Program. Dr. Kalam also

delegated sufficient authority to five

project directors for executive and

financial activities, leaving to himself

only the most important issues such

as contacts with more than two doz-

ens of subcontractors. Dr. Kalam’s

popularity grew with the emergence

of new missiles, which finally culmi-

nated in his victory at the elections

of the President of India.

This article treats only those

missile systems that are based

on the various-purpose Agni/Prithvi-

family ballistic missiles.

PRITHVI MISSILE SYSTEM

The Prithvi (Sanskrit for “Earth”)

missile is a single-stage short-range

ground-to-ground ballistic mis-

sile. Indian missile experts derived

their designs from the second-stage

engine of the surface-to-air mis-

sile for the Soviet S-75 Dvina air de-

fence missile system, as well as rock-

et engines designed earlier by India

under the Devil and Valiant proj-

ects (the Devil project was intend-

ed to develop an indigenous liquid-

propellant rocket engine drawing

on the analysis of similar Soviet guid-

ed missiles, whereas the Valiant proj-

ect was dedicated to the develop-

ment of a multi-stage strategic ballis-

tic missile). At the present time there

are two variants of the Prithvi missile:

one with a shorter-range but heavier

payload, and the other with a great-

er-range but lower-weight warhead.

In all other respects the two variants

are virtually identical. The modifica-

tions are designated “Prithvi I” and

“Prithvi II” correspondingly.

The Prithvi ballistic missile is a sin-

gle-stage liquid-propellant monob-

lock with a single warhead and an in-

ertial navigation and terminal guid-

Prithvi II ballistic mis-sile mobile launcher

AIR DEFENCE


ance system. Structurally the missile

has a cylindrical body with a cone-

shaped head, a cruciform wing in the

middle part and four smaller con-

trol/correction surfaces in the tail

end of the missile. The missile body

is made of aluminium alloys, and is

covered with radio-absorbing mate-

rials. The missile propulsion unit is

composed of two liquid-propellant

engines, and its fuel tank is made

of aluminium alloys as well. The en-

gine uses a mixture of the inhibited

red fuming nitric acid as an oxidiser,

and a compound fuel made of xyli-

dene (50%) and triethylamine (50%).

Nnormally Tthe missile is fuelled im-

mediately before the launch, since

fuelled missile can be stored for a few

months only. Thanks to the large-ar-

ea wing, the Prithvi missile is capa-

ble of performing manoeuvres at the

terminal flight leg to correct its tra-

jectory and penetrate enemy anti-

ballistic missile defence.

Basic specifications of the Prithvi-

family missiles are as follows: mis-

sile length — 8.55 m (Prithvi I) or 9.0

(Prithvi II), wing span — 2.6 m, launch

weight — about 4,000 kg, minimum

launch range — 40 km, maximum

launch range — 150 km (Prithvi I with

a 1,000-kg warhead) and 250 km

(Prithvi II). Some Indian media have

reported that the Prithvi I missile car-

rying a 250-kg warhead might be

launched at a range as great as 500

km — yet it seems hardly probable.

The missile’s circular error prob-

ability (CEP) does not exceed 0.1%

of the launch range, that is the CEP

at the maximum range would make

250 m (even though some Indian

sources suggest that the CEP could

be as little as 0.01% of the launch

range, in our opinion it does not

seem realistic). The missile is

equipped with an inertial guidance

system. The Prithvi developers de-

clare that during the pre-flight prep-

aration up to six waypoints at the ter-

minal trajectory leg can be uploaded

into the onboard mission comput-

er. It is believed that this procedure

must increase probability of pene-

tration by the missile of enemy anti-

ballistic missile defence, which is fur-

ther improved by applying a special

radio-absorbing coating on the mis-

sile body surface (the missile’s ca-

pability for en route manoeuvring

is equally dubious). It is further af-

firmed that the onboard guidance

system can correct the missile flight

trajectory within 15 degrees. The lat-

est missile modifications are also

equipped with satellite navigation

system receivers: some experts be-

lieve this to be the reason why India

has agreed on a broader coopera-

tion with Russia within the GLONASS

programme. The missile onboard

computer is based on a dual-proces-

sor principle.

The missile warhead weighs

1,000 kg (Prithvi I) or 500 kg (Prithvi II).

It can be either conventional explo-

sive or tactical nuclear Plutonium-

based charge with a 12–15-kilotonne

equivalent. The Prithvi ballistic mis-

sile can be armed with different

types of conventional warheads in-

cluding a high explosive fragmenta-

tion warhead with preformed strik-

ing elements (it provides kill radius

of 250 m against soft-skinned targets,

such as positions of missile launch-

ers and radars, as well as concentra-

tions of manpower or war materiel),

an incendiary warhead (with kill ra-

dius of up to 500 m), a cluster war-

head loaded with bomblets or mines,

a fuel-air explosive (volumetric) war-

head, and a runway/airfield facili-

ties buster warhead (this warhead

can damage a runway made of the

LNC60 grade concrete on an area

of up to 40–60-sq.m.). After com-

pletion of the nuclear tests in May

1998 Dr. Kalam, then DRDO head

and scientific advisor to the Minister

of Defence, made public the fea-

Dhanush sea-launched bal-listic missile

Dhanush ballistic missile in the assembly shopDhanush ballistic missile in the assembly shop

AIR DEFENCE

1(51).2010 ● 13

sibility of arming the missile with

a nuclear charge. It is thought that

since 1997 up to 20 nuclear charg-

es for the Prithvi I ballistic missile

have been produced, and starting

from 1999 up to 10 nuclear charges

for the Prithvi II ballistic missile.

The missile launcher is mounted

on the Tatra ‘Kolos’ 4x4 all-terrain

truck. Immediately prior to launch

the launcher with the loaded mis-

sile is separated from the truck

and is stabilised on the launch pad.

The Kolos transporter-launcher ve-

hicle has the following specifica-

tions: empty weight — 13,800 kg,

length — 8.8 m, width — 2.5 m,

height (at cabin) — 2.69 m, road

clearance — 425 mm, engine —

250-hp 12-cylinder Tatra T-930-3

diesel, maximum speed — 80 km/h,

fuel tank capacity — 520 l, negoti-

ated obstacles — vertical wall up

to 0.6 m high, water crossing up

to 1.4 m deep, slope — up to 30°,

cabin — equipped with the NBC

protection system.

The Prithvi ballistic missile devel-

opment project was the first one

to start in 1983 under the Integrated

Program umbrella. The Prithvi I

ground trials began in 1987 and

the first test flight took place

at Sriharikota on 25 February 1988.

The Prithvi II missile was first launched

at the Interim Test Range in Balasore

on 27 January 1996. The Prithvi bal-

listic missile was the first guided mis-

sile successfully developed and pro-

duced in series by India’s own effort.

As a matter of fact, liquid-fuel modi-

fications of the missile have a typical

drawback: they must be loaded with

fuel immediately prior to launch. This

routine can pose certain problems

in field conditions, and seriously de-

grades the system’s combat potential.

The Prithvi ballistic missile system

was demonstrated for the first time

at the military parade in commem-

oration of the Republic Day of India

on 26 January 1994

It was initially planned that

the Prithvi I ballistic missile system

would enter service with the Indian

Army by 1990. However, owing

to delays in the missile development

and a number of test launch failures

it was only in the middle of 1994

that the series production started,

and the missile system was then in-

ducted for trial operation. Seven test

launches had been made by that

time, and in 1994 a few more mis-

siles were test fired by Indian Army

combat crews (that June the Prithvi

ballistic missile was launched from

Chandipur missile range against

the firing ground on Wheeler Island

at a range of some 80 km). After

a number of successful test launch-

es the developer/manufacturer was

awarded the Indian Army’s con-

tract for the delivery of six missile

systems with the follow-up for 75

more missiles. The first-batch 20

missiles were delivered to the cus-

tomer by October 1995 and were

used to arm the 333rd Missile Group

permanently established in the city

of Secunderabad.

Bhabha Atomic Research Center

is situated in the city of Trombay,

major center of atomic, oil-refining,

petrochemical and chemical indus-

tries, 50 km to the south-east from

Mumbai (former Bombay). It is

India’s principal research centre in

the nuclear power engineering field,

engaged both in fundamental and

applied studies.

Indian atomic industry’s his-

tory dates back to 1945 when

the Institute of Fundamental

Research was established. Dr. Homi

Jehangir Bhabha, first director of

the Institute, was the initiator and

developer of the Indian Nuclear

Programme officially announced in

March 1944. He considered forma-

tion of national specialists in the

field of nuclear power generation

as one of the major goals of the

Institute. “When nuclear energy

is successfully applied to human

activities, and this may happen in a

couple of decades from now, India

will not have to look abroad for

nuclear experts for they will be

formed in this country”.

In April 1948 Atomic Energy

Act was adopted, and in August

1948 Atomic Energy Commission

was set up. On 3 January 1954

the Commission endorsed set-

ting up of the Atomic Energy

Establishment in Trombay under

its supervision. Since that time all

projects related to nuclear energy

(construction of nuclear reactors,

design and development of nuclear

weapons, processing of radioac-

tive materials, development of rel-

evant electronic, machine-building

and other technologies and equip-

ment) were transferred from the

Institute of Fundamental Research

to the Atomic Energy Establishment

in Trombay (even though it was offi-

cially opened by Jawaharlal Nehru

only on 20 January 1957).

Another important milestone

in the history of the Indian atomic

industry was laid on 3 April 1954

when the Department of Atomic

Energy was created within the Indian

Government, and Dr. H. Bhabha was

appointed its Secretary. The Atomic

Energy Establishment was brought

under the control of the new

Department. Organisationally,

the Atomic Energy Commission used

to be a part of the Ministry of Natural

Resources and Scientific Research.

Since then, however, the new

Department came under direct con-

trol of India’s Prime Minister (at that

time — Jawaharlal Nehru).

On 22 January 1967 Prime

Minister Indira Gandhi renamed

the Atomic Energy Establishment

as Bhabha Atomic Research Center

to commemorate its founder

Dr. Homi Bhabha who died in an air

crash on 24 January 1966.

At present BARC researchers con-

duct works in the following direc-

tions:

– elementary particles physics;

– atomic energy engineering sup-

port;

– isotopes analyses;

– radiation medicine;

– nuclear energy applications

to agriculture,

– computers;

– robotics;

– information technologies.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

AIR DEFENCE


The Indian Armed Forces com-

missioned in due time two modifi-

cations of the Prithvi missile: Prithvi I

(SS-150) for the Indian Army, and

Prithvi II (SS-250) for the Indian

Air Force (25 missiles) and later

for the Indian Army. It is most prob-

able that the “airborne” modification

of the Prithvi missile was first publicly

demonstrated at the military parade

on the occasion of India’s Republic

Day on 26 January 1995, but its in-

ception into service by the Indian Air

Force was officially announced only

on 18 April 2001 by the then Minister

of Defence Jaswant Singh in his

speech to the Parliament. He stat-

ed then that it was only a trial oper-

ation and further acquisition of this

ballistic missile for the Air Force was

not planned. At present a subsidiary

enterprise of the Bharat Dynamics

Limited company in Hyderabad is

producing only the Prithvi II missiles.

There were also reports that

the Prithvi II ballistic missile under-

went upgrading in the second half

of the 1990s. As a result, new high-

energy fuel for the missile allowed

its developers to increase the war-

head weight from 500 kg to 1,000 kg

while retaining the given flight

range. Some Indian media report

that the upgraded version of the mis-

sile is powered by a solid-propellant

engine. The first test launch of this

modification took place on 31 March

2001, and the missile flight range

then was 250 km. However, there is

every likelihood that it concerns an

entirely new ballistic missile, desig-

nated as “Prithvi III” (see below), rath-

er than the Prithvi II modification.

In 2001 a series of tests were con-

ducted to evaluate combat effective-

ness of a multipurpose combat mod-

ule armed with a row of various-type

warheads: incendiary, cluster with

bomblets, and runway buster war-

head. In the early 2001 the Prithvi

ballistic missile systems were in-

cepted into active service and put

on combat duty. The decision about

it was based on the analysis of the

Indian armed forces’ potential dur-

ing the confrontation with Pakistan

in 2001.

According to unclassified publi-

cations the Indian Army has by now

formed as a minimum three mis-

sile groups numbered 333, 444, and

555. Terminology-wise, an Indian

Army’s missile group corresponds

to a Russian missile brigade: that is,

one Prithvi missile group includes

three missile battalions with 12 mis-

sile launchers in each, and three sup-

plementary transporter-launcher

units in the reserve of the missile

group commander. Thus it turns out

that the total number of the Prithvi

missile system transporter-launch-

er vehicles of various modifications

in the Indian Army can amount to 45

units. Analysts assume though that

their quantity is much less in reality.

The third missile group to be formed

in 2003, as was then announced, ac-

tually existed only on paper for some

years. Indian sources still insist that

the national defence industry is ca-

pable, in case of necessity, of pro-

ducing three to four such missiles

per month.

It is worth mentioning that after

successful completion of the Agni

A mockup of the Sukanya class patrol ship with the Dhanush ballistic mis-sile

Dhanush bal-listic missile

AIR DEFENCE

1(51).2010 ● 15

intermediate-range ballistic missile

test Mr K. Shantanam, the DRDO

technical and scientific advisor,

made a statement that the Prithvi

ballistic missile had never been

planned to be the principal nuclear

capable delivery vehicle: such role

was considered for it only in con-

tingency cases. The Indian nucle-

ar scientist said in particular: “Now

we can state that the Agni solid-fu-

el missile has completely assumed

the role of delivering the nuclear

charge, taking it off from the Prithvi

liquid-fuel missile”.

Developer of the Prithvi missile

system — Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO)

of India.

Prime contractor — Bharat

Dynamics Limited (BDL) company,

Hyderabad.

Subcontractors for the Program:

– Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)

company, Bangalore — liquid-fu-

el engine and missile body com-

ponents;

– Bharat Aluminum (Balco) compa-

ny — components made of alu-

minium alloys, and missile body

components;

– Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML)

company — transporter-launch-

ers and other vehicles based

on the Kolos truck;

– Khirkee Explosives and Com bus-

tibles Plant, Pune — liquid fuel

components.

An estimated cost of one serial-

ly-produced missile is about 0.74–

1.4 mln USD.

DHANUSH SEA-LAUNCHED

BALLISTIC MISSILE SYSTEM

The Dhanush (Sanskrit for “Bow”)

sea-launched ballistic missile has

been designed within the framework

of the Prithvi ballistic missile develop-

ment programme. Indian specialists

describe colourfully the system com-

position: ‘Dhanush’ is the launching

unit equipped with the hydraulic sta-

bilisation system, which is a ‘bow’,

whereas the missile is an ‘arrow’ shot

by means of the above mentioned

bow. Indian sources sometimes

designate the Dhanush otherwise,

as Prithvi III (SS-350).

The Dhanush missile is struc-

turally similar to its prototype,

the Prithvi II single-stage ballistic

missile. Two variants of the missile

are said to have been developed:

an anti-ship missile with the launch

range of around 250 km, and a ship-

to-surface missile with the launch

range of around 500 km. Indian mis-

sile experts are also said to be devel-

oping a submarine-launched version

of the Dhanush ballistic missile — if

so, this one should be powered by

a solid-propellant engine.

The Dhanush ballistic missile

specifications are as follows: missle

launch weight — 4,400 kg, warhead

type and weight — conventional

high explosive, 500 kg (there are re-

ports that the warhead weight can

be increased up to 1,000 kg), mis-

sile length — 8.56 m. misile body di-

ameter — 1.1 m, number of stages —

one, flight range — 250–350 km,

CEP — about 250 m, guidance sys-

tem type — inertial. The ship-

based management system allows

launching the missile at a pitch an-

gle of up to 5 degrees and roll an-

gle of up to 10 degrees. The mis-

sile pointing accuracy is within one

degree. The maximum range flight

duration is 300 seconds. The mis-

sile launch system is said to be able

to also manage the Sagarika tactical

missile. This eventuality makes some

experts speculate that the Sagarika

and Dhanush missiles are nothing

other than different modifications

of the same prototype derived from

the Prithvi ballistic missile.

The Sukanya class ‘Subhadra’ pa-

trol ship (INS Subhadra, P51) was em-

ployed as a carrier ship for the mis-

Sagarika sea-launched mis-sile test

AIR DEFENCE


sile tests and trial operation. The first

missile flight test was conducted on-

board this ship, and ended up as a fail-

ure when the ballistic missile proto-

type broke in two in the air, fell down

and sank at the 4th second of the

flight. The second test launch was

performed in December 2000 and

the third one — on 21 September

2001. The latter one was consid-

ered a complete success as the mis-

sile carrying a 500-kg payload was

launched from the ship off the coast

of Orissa state, covered the pre-

planned distance (150 km), and

splashed down in the defined wa-

ter area of the Bay of Bengal. A rep-

resentative of the Indian Ministry

of Defence even declared in the in-

terview for “The Hindustan Times”

newspaper that India’s military and

political leaders would soon begin

“to practically employ the system”.

But in the same year an official rep-

resentative of the Indian Navy who

preferred to remain unnamed point-

ed out that “Indian Navy no longer

considers the Dhanush ballistic mis-

sile as a platform for nuclear charge

delivery”. Finally, in September 2002

Dr. Abdul Kalam, the then scientif-

ic advisor to the Minister of Defence,

announced that the Dhanush ballis-

tic missile was prepared to enter ser-

vice with the Indian Navy.

The missile was planned to be in-

ducted by the Indian Navy for tri-

al operation not later that 2003,

yet no credible information about

this issue has been released so far.

Even though after the fourth suc-

cessful test onboard the Subdhara

patrol ship some Indian media re-

ported that the Ministry of Defence

had allegedly placed an order for 30

missiles at the manufacturing plant.

The serial production missile was

tested during the fifth trial launch

conducted in the Bay of Bengal

on 28 December 2005.

The sea-launched ballistic mis-

sile development is apparently

going to be stay on hold, at least

for some time in the near future,

since the tension in relations be-

tween India and Pakistan has some-

what eased down, whereas this ship-

borne missile system had been made

as a deterrent for Pakistan: it was

planned that Indian surface ships

armed with such systems would sail

to safe positions off main ports and

naval stations of Pakistan and de-

liver massive missile strikes against

them (some experts even consid-

er the Dhanush missile to be noth-

ing else than technology demon-

strator). A model of such carrier ship

with the Dhanush ballistic missile

launcher onboard was shown at the

Defexpo 2002 International defence

exhibition (it is now showcased

at the Indian Minister of Defence

representation area on the territory

of the Pragati Maidan exhibition cen-

tre in Delhi).

Developer — Defence Research

and Development Organisation

(DRDO) of India

Prime contractor — Bharat

Dynamics Limited (BDL) company,

Hyderabad.

Subcontractor for the pro-

gramme — Hindustan Aeronautics

LTD (HAL) company, Bangalore — en-

gine and missile body components;

Shaurya tactical/theatre ballsistic missile

A hypothetical view of the Sagirika mis-sile outside its transport-launch can-ister

AIR DEFENCE

1(51).2010 ● 17

SAGARIKA (SHAURYA) TACTICAL/

THEATRE MISSILE SYSTEM

The Sagarika (Sanskrit

for “Oceanic”) sea-launched missile

system and its land-based version

“Shaurya” (Sanskrit for “Valour”) are

a follow-on development of the

Prithvi ballistic missile incorpo-

rating new technologies drawn

by Indian experts from the joint

Russian-Indian BrahMos project.

The new missile has been devel-

oped since 1991. It is a two-stage

missile in which both stages are

powered by solid-propellant mo-

tors. In contrast to the preceding

models of the Prithvi family ballistic

missiles, the Sagarika and Shaurya

tactical/theatre missiles do not

have an X-form wing in the mid-

portion of the missile body, and

their specifications are much clos-

er to those of the BrahMos mis-

sile than the Prithvi ballistic mis-

sile. The missile flight tests start-

ed in 2004: two successful launches

were performed on 23 January and

19 March 2004.

The missile bode is made of a steel

alloy. The Sagarika missile specifica-

tions are as follows: length — 10.0 m,

maximum body diameter — 0.74 m,

launch weight — about 6,200 kg,

maximum CEP — not more than

25 m. With the new engine and high-

energy fuel the Sagarika missile can

be fired at a range of 350 to 600 km,

and deliver a payload weighing

from 500 kg to 1,000 kg. A number

of Indian sources have intimated that

the missile developer is taking mea-

sures to increase the missile launch

range up to 1,300 to 2,500 km and

has requested technical assistance

of Russia and Israel. The Sagarika/

Shaurya missile system powered by

solid-propellant engines has a sub-

stantially greater combat potential

since there is no need any more

to keep a crowd of technical support

vehicles within the missile battalions

as was the case with the Prithvi I and

Prithvi II liquid-propellant missiles.

The missile is stored in a 2.4-m di-

ameter composite transport-launch

canister.

It is also most interesting that

besides ground-to-ground modifi-

cation of the Sagarika missile, Indian

specialists are developing its sub-

marine-launched version (designat-

ed in some Indian media as Project

K-15) for arming an indigenously de-

veloped advanced nuclear-powered

submarine. The missile is planned

to carry a warhead weighing from

180 kg to 550 kg with either conven-

tional or nuclear (17–150 kT yield)

charge.

Information about the Sagarika

missile system programme is rather

contradictory, but some media had

reports that the Sagarika ballistic

missile was launched from a special

underwater test facility at Chandipur

test range on 27 October 2004, and

on 12 November 2008 sixth test

launch of this kind was made, but

there are no more data about further

testing since then. The missile silos

onboard the advanced submarine

are supposed to accommodate both

one Agni III ballistic missile special

modification (one Agni IIISL per silo)

and Sagarika missiles (three missiles

per silo). The Sagarika missiles can be

launched from submerged position

at the depth of 50 m (precise launch

depth range is unknown).

AGNI FAMILY STRATEGIC BALLISTIC

MISSILE SYSTEM

First attempts to develop an in-

digenous long-range strategic mis-

sile were undertaken in the early

1970s. Thus, Project Valiant was start-

ed in 1972 with the purpose to de-

sign and manufacture a three-stage

liquid-propellant intercontinen-

tal ballistic missile. The first boost-

er stage was supposed to accommo-

date three liquid-propellant rocket

engines with a 30-tonne thrust each,

and the second stage should have

had one such engine. At the same

time civil-purpose rocket special-

ists from the Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) were develop-

ing a family of space launch vehicles:

in 1980 they made first successful

launch of a four-stage space launch

vehicle SLV-3.

The technical heritage accumu-

lated in Project Valiant (cancelled

for some reason in 1974) as well as

in the Space Launch Vehicle proj-

ect laid perfect ground for de-

sign works over the Agni (Sanskrit

for “Fire”) family ballistic missiles, of-

Launch of the Agni I medium-range ballistic missile.By expert esti-mates at least 10 nuclear charges for these mis-siles have been produced until now.

AIR DEFENCE


ficially started in 1983, although indi-

vidual case studies had been going

on since 1979.

The first member in this ballis-

tic missile family was the Agni-

TD/TTB missile (where TD means

“Technology Demonstrator”, and

TTB — “Technology Test Bed”).

Generally speaking, the missile was

used as a technology demonstrator

and test prototype helping to elab-

orate a number of tasks and compo-

nents, including, first of all, the fol-

lowing ones:

– missile design optimisation, de-

termination of stages number

and composition;

– study of missile control meth-

ods in various flight trajectory

phases, especially during reen-

try of its warhead (reentry ve-

hicle) into dense layers of the

Earth’s atmosphere at hyperson-

ic speeds;

– possibility to introduce in-

to the reentry vehicle structure

a multi-directionally reinforced

carbon-fiber preform technology

(MRCP) material, as well as:

– testing of a new inertial naviga-

tion system.

Indian developers of the new mis-

sile confessed that the first Agni fam-

ily offspring was kind of a hybrid

of the Prithvi ballistic missile with

the S-1 booster stage of the SLV-3

launch vehicle. The booster was a lit-

tle modified and employed solid

propellant. To reduce design time,

a shortened version of the Prithvi

missile’s liquid-propellant engine

was used in the second stage of the

new missile instead of a solid-propel-

lant engine (yet to be designed).

The first successful test of the new

missile took place on 22 May 1989

at Chandipur test range. For the sec-

ond test the missile’s second stage

was slightly modified to take great-

er fuel load. The last Agni-TD/TTB

ballistic missile was test launched

on 19 February 1994. According

to Indian sources, during that flight

an upgraded reentry vehicle ca-

pable of performing self-correc-

tion and terminal evasive manoeu-

vres (after entering into dense layers

of the Earth’s atmosphere) was test-

ed for the first time. The maximum

missile flight range registered dur-

ing tests was 1,450 km (maximum

possible range was announced to be

1,500 km).

The Agni-TD/TTB missile nev-

er entered service with the Indian

armed forces, although in 1999 dur-

ing Kargil armed conflict at least

one such missile was prepared to-

gether with four Prithvi missiles

for combat employment in the nu-

clear capable configuration in case

if Pakistan had begun a large-scale

aggression against India or had first

employed nuclear weapons. In his

book “Weapons of Peace: The Secret

Story of India’s Quest To Be a Nuclear

Power” published in India in 2000

Raj Chengappa writes that the above

mentioned five missiles were

brought into Combat Readiness No.

3 status which stipulates that nucle-

ar warheads should be completely

prepared for employment and ready

for installation on the carrier mis-

siles. All the missiles were moved

and deployed near India’s western

regions in close vicinity to the Indo-

Pakistan border. Some Indian high-

ranking officials and retired gener-

als have even avowed that the nu-

clear charge was indeed mounted

on the Agni missile, and the missile

itself was brought to the launch posi-

tion, fully loaded with fuel, and ready

for immediate launch.

As of today, the Agni ballistic mis-

sile family has four fully completed

missile modifications with two more

under development:

– Agni-TD/TTB — a medium-range

two-stage technology demon-

strator missile (its first stage is

a solid propellant booster, and

the second stage — a liquid-pro-

A mockup of the Agni ballistic missile railway-based launcherA mockup of the Agni ballistic missile railway-based launcher

Agni II ballistic Agni II ballistic missile mobile missile mobile launcher at the launcher at the military parade military parade in Delhiin Delhi

AIR DEFENCE

1(51).2010 ● 19

pellant motor). The missile has

successfully passed tests, and its

production is terminated;

– Agni I (or A-1) — a single-stage

solid-propellant medium-range

ballistic missile having the launch

range of 850 km with a 1,000-kg

warhead. The missile is in service

with the Indian Army, its produc-

tion is continued;

– Agni II (or A-2) — a two-stage sol-

id-propellant medium/interme-

diate-range ballistic missile hav-

ing the launch range of 2,800–

3,000 km with a 1,000-kg war-

head. The missile is in service with

the Indian Army, its production is

continued;

– Agni IIAT (or A-2AT) — an upgrad-

ed version of the Agni II ballistic

missile having the launch range

increased up to 4,000 km with

a 1,500-kg warhead. The missile

is made of the state-of-the-art

more durable and light materials.

The missile is under development;

– Agni III — a three-stage solid-pro-

pellant intercontinental ballistic

missile having the launch range

of not less than 5,500 km with

a 1,500-kg warhead, or 12,000 km

for a 500-kg warhead;

– Agni IV (or Agni III++) — a three-

stage solid-propellant intercon-

tinental ballistic missile having

the launch range of more than

10,000 km with a 1,000-kg war-

head. The missile is under devel-

opment.

Indian media sources report

that the Agni family missiles will

be further upgraded by equipping

them with satellite navigation sys-

tem receivers of either Russian-

made GLONASS (GLObal NAvigation

Satellite System), for which Russia

and India have reached a fundamen-

tal agreement to operate it jointly, or

Indian-made IRNSS (Indian Regional

Navigation Satellite System) which

should cover up to 35% of the Globe

according to its Indian developers.

AGNI I MEDIUM-RANGE BALLISTIC

MISSILE

The Agni I is a single-stage sol-

id-propellant medium-range ballis-

tic missile fitted with a separable

warhead and an inertial navigation

system.

The development works over

the Agni I missile project were start-

ed in 1994 immediately after suc-

cessful tests of the Agni-TD/TTB bal-

listic missiles. However, after some

time they were suspended and re-

sumed after successfully tests of the

Agni II ballistic missile. It was revived

on the initiative of the Indian Armed

Forces who demanded urgent in-

duction into service of a ballistic mis-

sile with greater flight range than

that of the Prithvi missile but less

than the Agni II’s. The range should

be within 300–2,000 km. As a result

of the design studies it was decided

to re-engineer the Agni II medium-

range ballistic missile instead of de-

veloping a new one. Actually one

stage was cut off from the missile,

and the new missile became thus sin-

gle-stage.

The Agni I missile specifications

are as follows: length — about 15 m,

maximum missile body diametre —

1.0 m, launching weight — about

12 tonnes, reentry vehicle weight with

the nuclear charge — up to 1,000 kg.

Its reentry vehicle is identical to that

mounted on the Agni II medium-

range ballistic missile. The Agni I mis-

sile with the standard-weight reentry

vehicle (1,000 kg) has launch range

of about 850 km. According to its

developers, if fitted with a lower-

weight reentry vehicle (e.g. 500 kg)

the missile can have its flight range

increased up to 1,200 km. The missile

has the same booster and electron-

ics as those installed in the Agni II

ICBM.

The first test flight of the ballistic

missile topped with a 1,000-kg reen-

try vehicle took place on 25 January

2002. The missile was launched

from a mobile wheeled launcher (so

Agni IIITD intercontinental ballistic missile prototypeAgni IIITD intercontinental ballistic missile prototype

Developers of the Agni III ICBM at their product

AIR DEFENCE


called road-mobile launch). The mis-

sile flew at a range of about 700 km.

On 9 January 2003 the second mis-

sile was test launched at a range

of 700 km. The Agni I missile launch-

er can be mounted on a railway car-

riage base.

The Agni I medium-range ballistic

missile has sufficient flight range and

combat power. Therefore the mis-

sile can engage any vital installa-

tions on the territory of Pakistan

without having to deploy its launch-

ers in close vicinity to the border.

Besides, the missile can engage tar-

gets on the territory of Afghanistan,

Iran, and China as well.

By expert estimates, up to ten 200-

kT nuclear warheads for the Agni I

medium-range ballistic missile

have been produced and delivered

to the Indian armed forces in the

period since 1998 until now. Indian

sources report that the Agni I ballistic

missiles are in service with 334th and

444th Missile Groups of the Indian

Army.

The missile cost amounts

to 3.5 mln USD.

AGNI II MEDIUM-RANGE BALLISTIC

MISSILE

The Agni II is a two-stage sol-

id-propellant medium-range

(in Western terminology -intermedi-

ate-range) ballistic missile fitted with

one separable warhead of about

200-kilotonne yield and an inertial

navigation system based on Indian-

designed/Indian-produced laser gy-

roscopes. The missile development

started in 1979 and was included

into the Integrated Guided Missile

Development Program in 1983.

The Agni II specifications are as

follows: missile length — 19.6 m,

maximum body diameter — 1.0 m,

missile launch weight — about

16 tonnes, reentry vehicle weight

with the nuclear charge — up

to 1,000 kg, launch range — not

less than 2,000 km. The onboard

missile equipment is integrated via

MIL-STD-1553B standard data bus.

The developers succeeded in reduc-

ing length of cables and wires by 8

times compared with a 24-km long

wiring on the Agni-TD/TTB ballis-

tic missile. The Mk.2 reentry vehi-

cle houses one 200–300 kT warhead

(from the total weight of 1,000 kg,

the warhead and antiballistic mis-

sile defence penetration means ac-

count for 750 kg, and the rest goes

to the reentry vehicle structure).

The missile CEP is 100–200 m, but as

some media have reported, the de-

velopers have been able to reduce it

to 40 m by introducing new equip-

ment (e.g. satellite navigation sys-

tem receivers). Besides, the reentry

vehicle of the missile can be pow-

ered by a high altitude-correction

liquid-propellant motor. To avoid

overheating, the reentry vehicle en-

ters the atmosphere at a high inci-

dence angle.

The A210 type powerplant makes

use of solid-propellant engines in the

first and second stages. The first

stage booster engine is practical-

ly identical to that used in the Agni-

TD/TTB missile which, in its turn, was

derived from the SLV-3 launch vehi-

cle engine. The booster uses more

advanced fuel with improved char-

acteristics. Both stages are made

of the 15CDV6 grade high-strength

steel. The missile launch preparation

now takes only 15 minutes thanks

to the employment of the solid-pro-

pellant engines which allow for dras-

tic reduction of the pre-flight pro-

cedures.

The new missile was first test

launched on 11 April 1999 at 09:47

Indian Standard Time from the IC-4

launch pad of then new test range

situated in the inner part of Wheeler

Island off the coast of Orissa State

at the range of 150 km from its

capital, the city of Bhubaneshwar.

The ballistic missile was launched

from a mobile launching unit made

from a modified railway carriage re-

sembling structurally a railway car-

Agni IIITD intercontinen-tal ballistic missile

Agni IIITD intercontinen-tal ballistic missile

AIR DEFENCE

1(51).2010 ● 21

riage/launcher in the Russian rail-

way-mobile Molodets ICBM system.

The combat crew was accommodat-

ed in the adjacent re-equipped rail-

way carriage.

The missile was reported to be

equipped with a GPS receiv-

er. The missile with a 700-kg war-

head flew at a range of 2,100 km

for 11 minutes and splashed down

in a given water area of the Bay

of Bengal. The missile development

team confirmed that test character-

istics and CEP attained were close

to design estimates. They also val-

idated estimated maximum flight

range of up to 2,800 — 3,000 km

for a “special configuration”.

It must be noted that on 14 April

Pakistan responded with another

testing of its Ghauri-2 medium-range

ballistic missile. It was launched

from Tilla-Jogian test range, 40 km

from Jhelum city, Punjab, to South-

East of Islamabad, almost at the very

border with India. The missile flew

for 11 minutes at a range of 1,400 km

and fell down in a defined area

of the test range near Jiwani city

on the coast of Beluchistan state.

Pakistani specialists affirm that this

nuclear-capable missile has maxi-

mum launch range of not less than

2,300 km.

The Agni II missile production

started in small batches after its

second test had been successful-

ly completed on 17 January 2001

at Chandipur test range, Orissa (lift-

off at 10:01 Indian Standard Time)

The launch was performed from

a mobile launching unit mount-

ed on the wheeled chassis (tractor-

trailer). The range was always about

2,100 km. The main test task was

to verify the ballistic missile accura-

cy at long range. Upon completion

of the test Professor P. N. Aggarwal,

head of the Agni programme, said

that the results of the flight tests

confirmed that the objectives set be-

fore his team were fully achieved”.

India’s Minister of Defence George

Fernandes in his letter of 7 March

2001 to Members of Parliament an-

nounced that the Indian Government

took decision to start series pro-

duction of the Agni II ballistic mis-

sile. According to Indian sources,

Bharat Dynamics Limited can pro-

duce up to 12-18 missiles per month.

Speaking to the Parliament on 15

May 2002 George Fernandes intimat-

ed that the Government took the fun-

damental decision to form the sec-

ond Agni ballistic missile group.

Agni IIITD ICBM test launch

BASIC SPECIFICATIONS OF THE AGNI FAMILY BALLISTIC MISSILES

Characteristics Agni-TD/TTB Agni I Agni II Agni IIAT Agni III Agni IV

First stage mass 10,800 10,800 10,800 20,000 30,500more

than 30,000

Second stage mass 7,000 - 4,200 6,000 12,000more

than 12,000

Third stage mass — — — — — 2,300

Reentry vehicle mass with combat payload

up to 1,000 up to 1,000 up to 1,000 up to 1,500 1,500 or 500 up to 1,000

Missile launch mass, kg: around 19,000 around 12,000 around 16,000 more than 27,000 more than 43,000 up to 50,000

First stage length, m 10.3 10.3 10.3 12.0 6.6 6.8

Second stage length, m 6.0 — 4.8 4.8 4.2 4.2

Third stage length — — — — — 1,0

Reentry vehicle length, m 4.0 4.5 4.5 2.6 3.3 2.0

Missile length, m 20.3 14.8 19.6 19.4 14.1 14.0

First stage diameter, m 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.2 2.0 2.0

Second stage diameter, m 0.8 — 1.0 1.2 1.8 1.8

Third stage diameter, m — — — — — n/a

Maximum reentry vehicle diameter, m

0.8 0.81 0.8 1.0 1.8 1.8

Launch range, km 1,500 850 2,800–3,000 4,0005,500 (1,500 kg)

or 12,000 (500 kg)10,000

Nuclear warhead yield, kT n/a 1x200 1x200 1x200 or 1x300 1x200 or 1x300 3x200 or 3x300

AIR DEFENCE


In 2003 India’s National Security

Committee endorsed the request

of the Indian Armed Forces to form

two additional missile groups: 334th

Agni I Missile Group and 335th Agni II

Missile Group. On 29 August 2004

the Agni II medium-range ballistic

missile was again successfully test

launched (third time in succession)

from the test range on Wheeler

Island. The launch was attended

by the Indian Minister of Defence

Pranab Mukherjee.

Experts estimate that in the

period since 2000 until now up

to ten 200-kT nuclear charges

for the Agni II medium-range ballis-

tic missile have been produced and

delivered to the Indian armed forces.

The missile cost amounts

to 4.7 mln USD.

AGNI III INTERCONTINENTAL

BALLISTIC MISSILE

The Agni III is the first interconti-

nental ballistic missile (ICBM) devel-

oped and produced by the Indian de-

fence industrial complex. It is a two-

stage missile powered by solid-pro-

pellant engines.

The Agni III ICBM specifications

are as follows: missile length —

14.1 m, maximum diameter — 2.0 m,

missile launch weight — more than

43 tonnes, reentry vehicle weight

with the warhead and antiballis-

tic missile defence penetration

means — from 500 to 1,500 kg, reen-

try vehicle type — monoblock Mk3

of 200 to 300 kT yield, maximum mis-

sile launch range — 5,500 km (with

the 1,500-kg reentry vehicle mass)

or 12,000 km (with the 500-kg reen-

try vehicle mass). Some media have

published reports that the Agni III

ICBM can be employed in the con-

ventional, non-nuclear configuration

with a 2,490–3,490-kg high explo-

sive warhead. In this case the missile

launch weight can be increased up

to 48 tonnes. The missile reentry ve-

hicle is provided with a fairing to pro-

tect the warhead from overheating

when it passes through dense layers

of the atmosphere. The fairing is en-

tirely made of composites capable

of withstanding high temperatures

of up to 5,000 degrees Centigrade.

On 7 February 2001, when visit-

ing the AeroIndia 2001 International

Air Show, Dr. B. K. Athre, chief

of the DRDO and scientific advi-

sor to the Minister of Defence, said

that the Agni III missile was planned

for induction into operational ser-

vice, and it would have greater

flight range and improved combat

effectiveness. However, it was only

on 17 May 2006 that the DRDO lead-

ers officially acknowledged the very

fact of the existence of the inter-

continental ballistic missile devel-

opment programme: on that day

the existence of the missile was re-

vealed, and a short video footage

about one of its tests was released

for public.

The announcement of the new

missile flight tests starting date

was postponed at least three times

on both political and technical rea-

sons. Finally, on 9 July 2006 the first

test launch of the Agni ICBM was

made at the test range on Wheeler

Island which turned out to be a fail-

ure. Since the first stage did not sepa-

rate from the second one (there were

also reports that the second stage

separation had failed), the Agni III

missile fell down on the ground

short of the target area.

It is noteworthy that initial-

ly the developers planned to con-

duct only three flight tests of the

new missile, considering the major-

ity of its components already cer-

tified on other Agni family missiles

and having no need for re-certifi-

cation. It could have allowed induc-

tion of this strategic missile sys-

tem into operational service even

in 2008. Since the abortive flight

test has compromised prospects

for successful implementation

of the charted plans, neither mil-

itary-political leaders nor the de-

veloping company hasten to fix

the date of the missile induction in-

to service. At the same time Indian

experts have already expressed

their opinions about the possibili-

ty to derive several new modifica-

tions from the Agni III ICBM, includ-

ing: — Agni IIISL shortened sub-

marine-launched version (approx-

imately 12 m long, equipped with

three independently targeted reen-

try vehicles); — a missile equipped

with multiple independently target-

ed reentry vehicles (MIRV); — as

well as a three-stage version with

substantially longer flight range.

The Agni III missile has sufficient

power capacity to reach and engage

any vital installations on the territory

of Pakistan as well as important tar-

gets on the territory of China, includ-

ing Shanghai and Beijing.

AGNI IIAT MEDIUM-RANGE

BALLISTIC MISSILE

The Agni IIAT medium-range bal-

listic missile is a further develop-

ment of the Agni II missile conducted

under the Continuous Improvement

Program for this missile family (“AT”

stands for Advanced Technology).

The new medium-range ballistic

missile modification features:

– warhead with lower-weight nu-

clear charge (but with greater

yield);

– upgraded engine promising

to provide increased launch

range of up to 4,000 km;

– first stage greater diameter

booster made of higher-strength

steel (250-M) enabling the fuel-

to-booster mass ratio to be raised

to 0.88;

– substitution of steel in the second

stage body structure with new

composite materials enabling

the fuel-to-second-stage mass ra-

tio to be raised to 0.92;

GSLV Mk III launch vehicle

AIR DEFENCE

1(51).2010 ● 23

– lower-mass reentry vehicle body

fully made of composite materi-

als (an option to mount the Mk4

type reentry vehicle, developed

for the Agni III ICBM, is also con-

sidered).

AGNI IV INTERCONTINENTAL

BALLISTIC MISSILE

The Agni IV intercontinental bal-

listic missile is a follow-on develop-

ment of the Agni III ICBM, featuring

an additional third stage powered

by a solid-propellant engine weigh-

ing about 2.3 tonnes. Its estimated

launch range is supposed to extend

to 10,000 km. The missile will also

be fitted with a new independently

targeted reentry vehicle 2.0 m long

(instead of 3.3 m) comprising three

independently targeted warheads

and a set of antiballistic missile de-

fence penetration means. There are

plans to load the reentry vehicle with

a lower-mass nuclear charge (retain-

ing the same yield) developed dur-

ing nuclear tests conducted by India

in 1998 (under Projects Shakti-I and

Pokhyran-II)

The Agni IV ICBM specifications are

as follows: missile length — 14.0 m,

launch weight — up to 50 tonnes, re-

entry vehicle weight with the charge

and antiballistic missile defence pen-

etration means — up to 1,000 kg, re-

entry vehicle type — multiple in-

dependently targeted reentry vehi-

cles; maximum flight range with full

(1000 kg) combat payload — about

10,000 km.

SURYA-I/SURYA-II

INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC

MISSILES

The Surya (Sanskrit for “Sun”) fam-

ily intercontinental missiles are seen

as advanced ballistic missile technol-

ogy items. Data on these missiles are

rather contradictory. Some sources

intimate that the Surya II is anoth-

er designation for the Agni IV ICBM.

Other sources publish data accord-

ing to which the new ICBM is derived

from the Indian Polar Space Launch

Vehicle (PSLV).

The Surya missile is supposed

to comprise three stages: first and

second stages powered by solid-pro-

pellant engines (modified versions

of the corresponding PSLV engines),

third stage with a liquid-propellant

engine derived from the correspond-

ing Vikas engine of the PSLV launch

vehicle (French design) or a cryogen-

ic engine of the GSLV launch vehicle

(Russian design). The missile will be

deployed at fixed launch positions.

Flight tests were planned to start

in 2009, induction in service is ex-

pected in 2015. No reports have

been published so far about the be-

ginning of this missile flight tests.

The Surya I/II ICBM specifica-

tions are as follows: missile length —

40.0 m, missile diameter — 2.8 m,

launch weight — about 80 tonnes,

multiple independently targeted re-

entry vehicles — two or three war-

heads of 15-20 kT yield each (or 200-

300 kT each, according to other da-

ta sources). The Surya I missile has

maximum launch range of 5,000 —

8,000 km, whereas the Surya II ICBM

from 12,000 km to 20,000 km.

A special emphasis should be

made on the fact that Indian military

and political leaders always official-

ly denied that the country conduct-

ed works on the development of in-

tercontinental ballistic missiles. For

example, India’s Minister of Foreign

Affairs Jaswant Singh said at the

press-conference in January 2002:

“ICBM is not our priority, nor our goal”.

Development activities

for the Agni and Surya ICBM fami-

lies are implemented by the follow-

ing parties:

1. Developer — Defence Research


(DRDO) of India;

2. Ballistic missile manufactur-

er — Bharat Dynamics Limited,

Hyderabad;

3. Developer of mobile launcher

and transport-loader vehicle (ex-

cepting the Agni IV and Surya

family missiles) — Research &

Development Engineers (R&DE),

Pune.

4. Manufacturer of mobile launch-

er and transport-loader vehi-

cle (excepting the Agni IV and

Surya family missiles) — Vehicle

Research & Development

Establishment (VRDE), DRDO divi-

sion, Ahmednagar.

5. Manufacturer of the nucle-

ar charge — Bhabha Atomic

Research Centre (BARC).

PSLV C3 launch vehicle

GSLV Mk I launch vehicle

PSLV C3-1 launch vehicle

LAND FORCES


t present, the develop-

ment level of armoured

vehicles signifies to a

large extent the military

potential of the country’s

land forces. Infantry fighting vehicles

(IFVs) are the most widely-used type

of the land forces’ hardware. Constant

upgrade of the combat vehicles fleet

is performed by means of developing

novel combat assets and moderniza-

tion of existing armoured vehicles.

The service life of the armoured

vehicles is rather lengthy, amounting

to 30–40 years. Many countries of the

world are retrofitting the majority of

their combat vehicles. The US is cur-

rently refurbishing its Bradley M2A2

IFV up to the M2A3 configuration.

The Russian-made BMP-2 IFV be-

ing the main CV of the land forces in

many countries was put into service

in 1980 and appeared to be superior

to the majority of its foreign counter-

parts in terms of combat character-

istics. Currently, the BMP-2 still com-

plies with the modern requirements

as regards its armour protection and

riding performance.

Analysis of current status and de-

velopmental tendencies of arma-

ment and fire control systems sug-

gests BMP-2’s weapon system lag-

ging behind the modern state of the

art as regards several combat char-

acteristics:

• Guided weapon firing on the

move and when afloat is not pos-

sible because of the wire guid-

ance of the Konkurs missile.

• The Konkurs weapon system

features low rate of fire due to

launcher reloading. There is con-

siderable loss of time during the

reloading procedure, and the op-

erator can get injured by frag-

ments and small arms fire.

• Night firing can be conducted on-

ly by means of the automatic gun

and the PKT machine-gun to the

range of not more than 800 m.

• Non-automated FCS of the BMP-2

(the absence of the on-board

computer, modern sights and tar-

get autotracker) makes it impossi-

ble to perform accurate firing and

constrains the effective range of

fire by the 30mm gun to 1100–

1400 meters. Considerable er-

rors while firing on the move are

caused by insufficient stabiliza-

tion accuracy of the line of sight

implemented by the BPK-2-42

sight rigidly connected with the

weapon.

• Firing from the automated gun

with 30mm rounds with flat tra-

jectory does not allow engage-

ment of hidden and entrenched

manpower.

• Firing at air threats conducted

by means of the 1PZ-3 target as-

pect sight basically has only psy-

chological effect because the kill

probability against a typical aeri-

al target does not exceed several

hundredths.

The lethality of the combat ve-

hicle is determined by the weap-

on system, and it is improvement of

the weapon system that enables to

achieve the highest enhancement

of combat effectiveness. The BMP-2

has large potential of evolution of

the weapon system. KBP Instrument

Design Bureau has solved the prob-

lem of enhancing the fire power of

A

KBP-DESIGNED MODERNIZED FIGHTING COMPARTMENT OF THE BMP-2 — AN EFFICIENT

WAY OF UPGRADING ARMOURED VEHICLES

Weapon system for armoured vehicles (with kornet-e atgm)

Igor Stepanichev

Lev Shvec

LAND FORCES

1(51).2010 ● 25

current BMPs that ensures their supe-

riority over all existing IFVs.

The retrofitting is performed on

the basis of the standard BMP-2 tur-

ret with the 2A42 automatic gun

(while retaining the hull and inter-

nal layout of the turret) within a short

period of time. In terms of design it

includes the following:

• installation of two armoured

launchers of the Kornet-E anti-

tank guided missiles on the sides

of the turret. Each launcher is for

two ready-to-fire missiles and is

fitted with stand-alone electrome-

chanical elevation laying drives;

• installation of the gunner’s

combined sight (instead of the

BPK-2-42 sight) with an indepen-

dent LOS stabilization system. The

sight includes optical, thermal

imaging and laser range finding

channels, as well as the missile

guidance channel;

• installation of the digital on-

board computer with a system

of sensors;

• installation of the TV/thermal

automatic target tracker;

• installation of the 30mm gre-

nade-launcher with an autono-

mous drive from the gun and a

magazine of up to 300 grenades;

• installation of the commander’s

panoramic sight with an inde-

pendent LOS stabilization sys-

tem, which includes TV and la-

ser range finding channels.

The weight of additionally mount-

ed weapons and hardware does not

exseed 500 kg, 260 kg out of these

being the weight of additional am-

munition: ATGM and 30mm grenades.

It’s worth to mention the realized

principle of modular arrangement of

the proposed fighting compartment.

The customer according to his own re-

quirements under the limited financ-

ing can select the upgrade package

variant: full or partial package. The

sighting equipment and armament

(panoramic commander’s sight, sec-

ond ATGW launcher, grenade launch-

er) are installed additionally in the rel-

evant locations of the armoured cupo-

la and are connected with FCS by the

cable joint to the connectors in the ar-

mour of the armoured cupola.

The upgraded BMP-2 with the ad-

vanced Б05Я01 (B05Ya01) fighting

compartment has the following ad-

vantages as compared to the stan-

dard BMP-2:

• Thanks to the day-and-night FCS

it provides the precise firing by

all types of ammunition includ-

ing newly developed, guided and

unguided rounds against moving

and stationary targets, engage-

ment of all targets nomenclature

in stationary position, on the move

and afloat by day/at night includ-

ing automatic gun firing at rang-

es up to 4000 m, Kornet-E ATGW —

up to 5500 m and automatic gre-

nade launcher — up to 2100 m.

• Kornet-E ATGW armour penetra-

tion increase up to 1000-1200mm

provides the reliable engage-

ment of advanced ERA-protected

tanks (Leclerc, Abrams, Leopard).

Besides the HEF warhead of the

missile destroys concrete fortifi-

cations and pillboxes. Targets en-

gagement beyond the enemy’s

effective response fire guarantees

the upgraded BMP-2 victory in

the fighting with tanks and IFVs.

• Four (4) ready-to-fire guided mis-

siles positioned in two (2) stabi-

lized launchers of the upgraded

BMP-2 significantly increase the

ATGM fire rate. Here it is not nec-

essary to reload the ATGM launch-

er during the battle that increas-

es the survivability of the loading

soldier and CV in whole because it

doesn’t stop for ATGM reloading

becoming the easy target on the

battlefield.

• The use of TV/TI target autotrack-

er makes it possible to increase

by 3–6 times the tracking accu-

racy as compared to the manual

mode. The man is excluded from

the aiming contour, the firing re-

sults do not depend upon the gun-

ner’s psychophysical condition

that is especially important un-

der the stress conditions of the

battle. The precise target tracking

becomes the guaranteed perfor-

mance which reduces the gunners

training requirements and training

period itself. The target autotrack-

er gives the totally new quality to

the FCS realizing the “fire-and-for-

get” principle when guided missile

firing. In this case the missile cost

is greatly reduced as compared to

the missile with the homing head

acting as target autotracker.

• Kornet ATGW firing with elevation

above LOS practically excludes the

missile detection by the enemy.

• ATGM laser guidance system with

missile TV-lining in the beam

guarantees high immunity to all

types of jamming because the jam

source cannot be in the IFV rear

and can not have the same codes.

• Salvo firing by two Kornet-E

ATGMs in one beam is provided to

penetrate the targets active pro-

tection and to have gurantee en-

gagement of some highly impor-

tant targets.

• The automatic gun and gre-

nade launcher fire accuracy (by

all types of ammunition) is high-

ly increased thanks to consider-

ation of the most important fir-

ing factors: range to the target

(to be measured by the laser

rangefinder or introduced man-

ually), CV and the target veloc-

ity and direction, wind speed,

temperature and air pressure,

charge temperature, round muz-

zle velocity deviation from nom-

inal value, target elevation angle,

roll and pitch angle, round ejec-

tion angle. Thanks to the digital

onboard computer the fire set-

Weapon system for armoured vehicles (with kornet-e atgm). Side view.

LAND FORCES


tings are produced automatically.

The effective firing range of

30mm rounds of the automat-

ic gun is increased from 1100–

1400 m to 1800–2000 m.

• The BMP-2 AD fire effectiveness

is also greatly increased: the kill

probability when firing from au-

tomatic gun against usual air tar-

gets like “helicopter”, “assault air-

craft” is increased by several times

and is close to kill probability of

specialized AD missile-gun close-

in systems, with less ammunition

expenditure. Therefore the BMP

universalization principle is suc-

cessfully realized by giving the

AD capabilities without addition-

al costs.

• The manpower is effectively en-

gaged at ranges up to 2100 m in-

cluding behind terrain slopes and

in trenches thanks to low ballistic

weapons (AG-30M automatic gre-

nade launcher with new GPD-30

grenades).

• Potential of combat operation

of the IFV’s commander extends

owing to installation of the pan-

oramic TV sight with technical vi-

sion. Such a sight is installed in

the BMP for the first time. The

commander has panoramic field-

of-view in azimuth. The field-of-

view in elevation is extended to

60°. The LOS maximal angular ve-

locity increases from 5–6 to 20

degrees per second. This allows

to increase the number of targets

detected by CV in 2.5 times and

also to raise the accuracy of tar-

get designation for the gunner

in 10 times and completely du-

plicate the commander’s opera-

tion as well as to fire against aeri-

al targets in the automatic mode.

Modernization of the BMP-2 an-

swers the purposes of advanced IFVs

in the next 20–30 years, and the

modernized BMP-2 can be success-

fully used till 30–40-ties of the 21st

century.

Modernization of the BMP-2 is

comprehensive and results not on-

ly in ordinary improvement of some

characteristics of the weapon sys-

tem but makes it possible to create

a CV with fundamentally new perfor-

mance, which successfully competes

with other CVs in the military market.

Calculations of the effectiveness

of the improved and organic BMP-2

in combat conditions both as inde-

pendent unit and while supported by

tanks showed that the required num-

ber of vehicles can be reduced by a

factor of 3.8 while keeping the same

level of probability of successful mis-

sion fulfilment.

In terms of lethality the upgrad-

ed BMP-2 reaches the level superior

to the possibly best IFVs like Bradley

(USA) and Marder (Germany). The

technical solutions used in the de-

sign of the Б05Я01 (B05Ya01) fight-

ing compartment allow the BMP-

2 to outperform in terms of com-

bat potential the American M2A2

Bradley IFV by a factor of 2.4 and its

latest upgraded version M2A3 by a

factor of 1.87, and the cost of the

BMP-2 retrofitting is much less.

The new weapon system is a part

of the Б05Я01 fighting compartment,

which, being a part of the BMP-2,

passed all kids of trials with positive

results according to programs coor-

dinated by the Russian MoD. At pres-

ent KBP performs serial production of

the BMP-2 modernized fighting com-

partment.

The main part of the light weight

CVs park of the land forces in some

foreign countries is constituted by

BMP-2 IFVs which are manufactured

at local plants.

The proposed version of BMP-2

modernization was successfully dem-

onstrated outside Russia. In 2004 a

foreign crew trained within a day

and a half conducted firing trials and

showed the results comparable to

those of the Russian crew. The tri-

als were held with the BMP-2K com-

mander’s vehicle, which was re-

equipped by joint efforts of Russian

and foreign specialists within 15 days

at a local plant without preliminary

production preparation.

The Russian party delivered the

FCS, Kornet-E anti-tank guided mis-

sile launchers, grenade launcher

unit and cable set. Foreign special-

ists together with the Russian spe-

cialists dismounted the standard

fighting compartment, upgraded

the armoured cupola, and prepared

mounting seats for installation of the

weapons, FCS units including sights.

The fighting compartment was as-

sembled, adjusted, the acceptance

trials were held and the fighting

compartment was mounted on the

standard chassis of the local-made

BMP-2. After firing at a shooting-

range the upgraded BMP-2 was ac-

cepted. In 2003, 2004 and 2005 the

upgraded BMP-2 successfully passed

demonstration trials in various coun-

tries of the world.

Thus the advantage of the BMP-2

IFVs equipped with the Б05Я01

(B05Ya01) fighting compartment is

high fire power and proven tech-

nology of the BMP-2 modernization.

Moreover, retrofitting of combat

vehicles can be performed not only

at serial-production plants, but al-

so at plants, which repair armoured

vehicles.

Weapon system for armoured vehicles (with kornet-e atgm). Front view.

LAND FORCES

1(51).2010 ● 27

MARKETS


INDIA’S ARMS PROCUREMENT

POLICY IN 2009

The terrorist attack in Mumbai

made Indian Government re-

emphasize vital significance

of the state security, enhance pro-

ficiency and equipment level of law

enforcement agencies. Analysis

of the terrorist act roots helped

to expose loopholes in state se-

curity structure and propose a set

of organisational and practical

measures to plug them. The Indian

Government approved overall allo-

cation of 60 billion Indian rupees —

INR (1.25 bn USD) for urgent pro-

curement of arms, military and aux-

iliary equipment.

In December 2008 the Indian

Ministry of Defence proposed

the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and

Army to submit their requests for

urgent equipment acquisitions un-

der the defence capabilities improve-

ment programme. The Indian Interior

Ministry sent similar request to sub-

ordinate paramilitary and police units.

At the initial phase a high priori-

ty is attributed to the procurement

of intelligence, surveillance and data

collection systems, special anti-ter-

rorist equipment designed for spe-

cial-purpose forces, as well as high

precision weapons.

High cost systems are procured by

Indian Coast Guard and Navy (both

agencies were sharply criticised after

the terrorist attack in Mumbai).

In late December 2008 India’s

Minister of Defence A. K. Antony

endorsed the Indian Coast Guard

(ICG) programme for urgent procure-

ment/lease of 80 high-speed inter-

ception boats available then in the

market to carry out efficient patrol-

ling of the national territorial waters,

as well as establishment of six addi-

tional ICG coastal stations.

In January 2009 the Indian

Ministry of Defence issued a re-

quest for proposals on delivering

to the Indian Navy six new medi-

um-range maritime reconnaissance

aircraft to replace 10 obsolete BN-

INDIA’S ARMED FORCES’ WEAPONS MODERNISATION

PROGRAMMES IN 2009

Igor Ilyin

In early 2009 India was estimated to be world’s major arms importer if judged by the confirmed orders

logbook. The terrorist attack occurred in Mumbai on 26 November 2008 provoked even greater surge

in India’s spending on purchases of both indigenous and foreign-origin weapons.

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 29

2 Islander maritime patrol aircraft,

and another one on setting up an ef-

ficient three-tier surveillance net-

work in the Indian Ocean Region.

The Indian Coast Guard also plans

to procure six additional maritime

patrol aircraft.

The Indian Navy urgently procure

the first batch of two Israeli-origin

aerostat-based radar systems to im-

prove the Indian Coast Guard’s capa-

bility for low-altitude aircraft detec-

tion/tracking within the range of up

to 500 km. One such system costs ap-

proximately 20–30 million USD. This

is the first contract for the procure-

ment of such systems for Navy's pur-

poses. The Navy has been applying

for the procurement of these radar

systems for a long time, but the ap-

proval is granted just now.

The Indian Air Force also intends

to deploy similar aerostat-based ra-

dar surveillance system to protect

the capital against low-altitude air-

craft intrusion threat. The radars will

transfer the acquired data to air de-

fence missile systems positioned

near New Delhi.

In 2004–2005 India purchased two

aerostat-based radar reconnaissance

systems made by Israeli IAI compa-

ny, equipped with the EL/M-2083

phased array radar providing up

to 500-km target detection range.

In the nearest future India in-

tends to sign a contract for procure-

ment of four additional Israeli-made

aerostat-based reconnaissance sys-

tems capable of detecting enemy

low-flying aircraft, helicopters, un-

manned aerial vehicles, and missiles.

The Indian Air Force plans to procure

up to 13 such systems altogether.

On 17 March 2009 the Indian

Ministry of Defence approved

the programme for urgent procure-

ment of Army weapons and military

equipment, greater part of which

was intended for the Ghatak com-

mando units. Considering urgen-

cy of the supply order, the Ministry

intends to purchase the required

weapons and military equipment

through the mechanism of the US

Foreign Military Sales programme.

At the top of a high-priority items list

one can find general-purpose ma-

chine guns (fitted with night vision

sights), underbarrel grenade launch-

ers, 2,724 night vision sights, 6,908

mirror sights, 612 radio-controlled

detonators, 372 remotely-controlled

fuses (including receivers and trans-

mitters), and 93 special-purpose

parachutes.

Additional acquisit ion

of the Heckler und Koch MP5 subma-

chine guns is planned for comman-

do units.

Besides, the Indian Ministry

of Defence plans to procure new

reconnaissance systems at the cost

of about 3.1 billion USD.

Worsening of relations between

New Delhi and Islamabad frequent-

ly provoked India’s new rearma-

ment planning. In the decade af-

ter the Indo-Pakistani armed conflict

in 1999 in Kargil area, Jammu and

Kashmir, for instance, India procured

abroad an arsenal of weapons and

military equipment worth 25 billion

USD. Besides urgent arms procure-

ments, the near-term purchases also

will be substantially increased com-

pared with previously approved fig-

ures. As a matter of fact, in the com-

ing 2–3 years India is going to pro-

cure weapons and military equip-

ment worth 10 billion USD. India’s

total expenditures in the coming

5 years for purchasing weapons and

military equipment abroad are esti-

mated at 30 billion USD (excepting

urgent procurements).

INDIA’S MILITARY EXPENDITURES

India earmarked defence expen-

ditures for the 2009–2010 fiscal year

(FY) that started on 1 April 2009,

at the amount of 1,417.03 INR (about

28 billion USD). This figure is 34%

greater than appropriations for mili-

tary needs in FY 2008–2009. The de-

fence budget growth is directly coor-

dinated both with the Indian armed

forces’ long-term modernisation

programme and a number of urgent

measures deemed necessary for im-

plementation after the Mumbai ter-

rorist attack.

Indian Minister of Defence A. K. Antoni and the US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, February 2008

MARKETS


The augmentation makes up

361.03 billion INR relative to FY

2008–2009 defence budget fig-

ure of 1056 billion INR approved

by the Parliament. However, in re-

al terms the budget growth is 23.6%

compared with FY 2008–2009, since

during that period additional sums

were allocated for defence purposes,

and the defence expenditures went

up to 1,146 billion INR. Such a signifi-

cant budget increase is explained by

the requirement for strengthening

the national defence in connection

with growing terrorist threats and

tensions in the region.

As in previous years it was

the Indian Army that received

the main part of fund allocations

(41% or 586.48 billion INR). The Indian

Navy received 83.22 billion INR, and

the Air Force 143.18 billion INR.

The capital expenditures amount

to 548.24 billion INR (one can com-

pare it with 410.07 billion INR in the

revised budget for FY 2008–2009).

The Indian Air Force has received

the maximum amount of 200 billion

INR, while Army and Navy have their

share of 177.6795 and 118.7373 bil-

lion INR respectively.

The India’s arms procurement

funds for FY 2009–2010 have

amounted to 11.42 billion USD show-

ing a 14.2% increment from simi-

lar figures in FY 2008–2009 (10 bil-

lion USD).

The Army has received the great-

est part of supplementary arms pro-

curement funding among other mil-

itary services. Funds allocated for

this purpose have been increased by

32.5% — from 2.73 to 3.7 billion USD.

The Indian Army particularly in-

tends to procure 155-mm howit-

zers with the 52-calibre barrel, un-

manned aerial vehicles through

mechanisms of already opened ten-

ders, mobile artillery regiment com-

mand and control posts, additional

quantities of the T-90S main battle

tanks, equipment for special-opera-

tions forces, antitank guided missile

systems, helicopters, cruise missiles,

and combat management systems,

as well as to upgrade the T-72 tanks.

The Indian Air Force receives 4.16

billion USD for arms procurement

which represents a 4.3% increase

compared with 3.98 billion USD

in FY 2008–2009. The Air Force plans

to start initial financing of the 126

medium multi-role fighter procure-

ment programme (the tender for

their delivery is still going on), to pur-

chase unmanned aerial vehicles,

tanker aircraft, helicopters, stand-

off missiles, and upgrade the MiG-29

and Mirage 2000 fighters as well as

air defence missile systems.

The Indian Navy has received 832

billion USD for naval systems pro-

curement, which is a 4.5% increment

compared with 796 billion USD in FY

2008–2009. The Navy’s procurement

plan includes purchases of nuclear-

powered and conventional subma-

rines, surface ships, unmanned aerial

vehicles, air defence missile systems,

heavy torpedoes for diesel-electric

submarines, maritime reconnais-

sance aircraft, and the P-8I Poseidon

maritime patrol aircraft.

Research, development, test and

evaluation activities have been fund-

ed with 776.6 million USD whereas

in FY 2008–2009 it amounted to 644

million USD. The Defence Research

T-90S Bhishma Main Battle Tank

9mm MP5-A4 submachine gun

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 31


(DRDO) of the Indian Ministry

of Defence is now conducting de-

velopment works over a broad spec-

trum of defence systems and tech-

nologies, including a ballistic mis-

sile capable of delivering a nuclear

charge over the range of 5,000 km,

cruise missiles, air defence missile

systems, aircraft, helicopters, and un-

manned aerial vehicles.

OVERVIEW OF MAJOR

EVENTS IN INDIA’S MILITARY

COOPERATION WITH FOREIGN

COUNTRIES IN 2009

In 2009 India signed conceptu-

al agreements of great importance

with Russia and the United States

of America that will define her long-

term mutual relations in the field

of foreign military-technical cooper-

ation with both countries.

Russia. On 7 December 2009 Rus-

sian President Dmitry Medvedev and

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh signed joint declaration fol-

lowing the official visit of the Indian

Government’s head. They also atten-

ded signing of intergovernmental

agreements on the military-technical

cooperation programme for the pe-

riod of 2011–2020 and on post-sale

servicing of Russian weapons and mi-

litary equipment supplied to India, as

well as the protocol to the two-state

inter-governmental Agreement on co-

operation in development and produc-

tion of multi-purpose transport aircraft

(dated 12 November 2007).

Moreover, during the Manmohan

Singh’s visit the two Parties came

to a final agreement on the deadlines

and cost of the Admiral Gorshkov air-

craft carrier upgrading, which be-

came the main result of the nego-

tiations. According to the reached

agreement, the total cost of the work

is set at 2.3 billion USD.

USA. India and the USA saw radical

changes in their military-technical

cooperation in 2009. On 20 July 2009,

as a result of negotiations held by US

State Secretary Hillary Clinton during

her official visit, India and the USA

signed in New Delhi the End-user

verification agreement (EUVA) and

Communication interoperability and

security memorandum of agree-

ment (CISMOA) as prerequisites for

protection and control of sensitive

technology transfers in accordance

with the US legislation. It lifted last

restrictions that until then hindered

relations of the two countries in the

military-technical cooperation area.

India consented to substantially

relax restrictions practiced by her

on acquisitions from foreign suppli-

ers in order to speed up implementa-

tion of the major arms sales contract

with the Unites States. The Boeing

Company which in early January

2009 signed an agreement on sup-

ply to the Indian Navy of eight P-8I

maritime patrol aircraft, was freed

from the offset requirement to in-

vest 30% of the contract price in-

to deals on buying goods and ser-

vices in that country. It is a seem-

Boeing F/A-18E/F «Super Hornet» carri-er-based multi-role fighter

Admiral Gorshkov (Vikramaditya) aircraft carrierAdmiral Gorshkov (Vikramaditya) aircraft carrier

MARKETS


ingly weighty concession, consider-

ing the total amount of the contract

worth 98 billion INR (2.1 billion USD).

In the long run Boeing wants

to augment substantially its share

in the Indian arms market. At this mo-

ment the company is promoting its

F/A-18E/F aircraft, a contender in the

Indian Air Force’s tender for a medi-

um multi-role fighter. Boeing has al-

so received a request for information

on strategic transport aircraft to be

supplied to the Indian Air Force, and

has sent its proposal for the deliv-

ery of the C-17A Globemaster-3 mili-

tary transport aircraft to the Ministry

of Defence.

After winning the tender for

the delivery of the P-8I Poseidon

maritime patrol aircraft, Boeing plans

to propose the P-8 aircraft as a con-

tender in another contest for the de-

livery of a medium-range maritime

reconnaissance aircraft (MRMRA).

Boeing has offered the CH-47

Chinook helicopter as a contender

in the Indian Ministry of Defence’s

heavy-lift helicopter acquisition pro-

gramme, as well as the AH-64H at-

tack helicopter.

In turn, Lockheed Martin plans

in the near 5 years to conclude de-

fence-related contracts with India

costing more than 15 billion USD.

In 2008 the company signed with

the Indian Ministry of Defence

a contract for delivery of six C-130J

Hercules military transport aircraft

at a total cost of about one billion

USD.

Besides, Lockheed Martin has fo-

cused its efforts on winning in the

Indian Air Force’s tender for delivery

of 126 medium multi-role fighters

In addition, the company

will offer to the Indian Ministry

of Defence military transport air-

craft, helicopters for Navy, and mis-

siles. Lockheed Martin is reportedly

planning to conclude an agreement

on joint production and modernisa-

tion of the AGM-114 Hellfire-2 mis-

siles intended for employment from

land-based and airborne platforms.

Feasibility of establishing joint ven-

tures with Indian state-owned en-

terprises, such as Bharat Electronics

Ltd and Bharat Dynamics Ltd, lead-

ing missile manufacturers, is also

studied by the company.

Lockheed Martin holds talks

with representatives of the Indian

Ministry of Defence on potential de-

liveries of the Sniper target designa-

tor pod, Javelin antitank guided mis-

sile systems, and Longbow system.

In the improved ambience

of Indian-US relationship the compa-

ny has also made offers for the deliv-

ery to India of the most updated ver-

sion of its Partiot PAC-3 anti-air/anti-

ballistic missile system, Aegis combat

management system, and Mk.41 ver-

tical launchers for Navy.

NAVAL ARMS

NAVAL ARMS TENDERS

FOR INDIA’S NAVY

Tender for 6 Non-Nuclear Submarines

The Indian Defense Ministry has

launched the procedure of buy-

ing the next batch of submarines

by issuing the request for six new

diesel-electric submarines under

an international tender. At present,

the Navy and Defense Ministry are

studying preliminary responses from

Rosoboronexport, French company

Armaris, German HDW and Spanish

Navantia. The new batch of diesel-

electric submarines is estimated

at 300 billion rupees.

The Indian Navy wants the next

batch of Project-75A diesel-electric

submarines to have air-indepen-

dent powerplants. The new subma-

rines will feature the stealth technol-

ogy and other promising develop-

ments as well as land-based targets

engagement capability. The subma-

rine should also have vertical missile

launchers. All six submarines will be

built in India in line with the technol-

ogy transfer agreement to be signed

with the winning bidder.

According to Project-75, India’s

Navy plans to further acquire 30 new

diesel-electric submarines.

Lockheed-Martin C-130J «Super Hercules» mili-tary transport

Boeing C-17A «Globe Master III» military transport

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 33

Project 28 Low-Signature Corvettes

Programme

By the end of December 2009,

the Indian Navy planned to is-

sue a tender for constructing four

Project 28 (P-28) stealth antisub-

marine corvettes. India’s Defense

Ministry will let Kockums of Sweden,

part of ThyssenKrupp Marine

Systems, which has a large experi-

ence in building 650-t Visby-class

stealth corvettes as well as Greek

company Intermarine and Kangnam

Corporation take part in the tender.

The first two Project 28 corvettes

that will be soon completed were

equipped with a usual steel sail,

while the further ships of this batch

will possess the sail made of com-

posite materials.

The construction of the leading

P-28 antisubmarine corvette is 80%

complete. Its launching is scheduled

for February 2010. The sail of the sec-

ond ship is 80% complete. The Garden

Reach shipyard has been building

the ships since 2003 after signing

the letter of intent with India. The ini-

tial project implementation period

was violated as the designers were

working on the stealth technology.

The cost of construction in-

creased from 28 billion rupees

(about $600 million) for four Project

28 ships to 70 billion rupees ($1.5 bil-

lion). The leading ship is set for deliv-

ering to the Indian Navy in 2012.

CURRENT PROGRAMMES CARRIED

OUT JOINTLY WITH FOREIGN

COMPANIES

Australia. Licensed Construction of Boats

for the Coast Guard

In February 2009, Indian company

ABG Shipyard ltd. launched a high-

speed interceptor boat for the Indian

Coast Guard.

In June 2006, India’s Coast Guard

made a contract with ABG Shipyard

for building 11 interceptor boats

designed by Australian company

Thorneycroft Maritime & Associates.

One vessel is estimated at 176.3

million rupees (about $3.6 million).

The whole contract is worth 1,939.4

million rupees (about $40.4 million).

All 11 boats are set for delivery by

the end of 2010. In 2008, the compa-

ny provided the Indian Coast Guard

with two boats of this project.

Russia. Modernization of Project 877EKM

Diesel-Electric Submarine

In 2009, Russia continued its

long-term programme of upgrading

India’s Project 877EKM diesel-elec-

tric submarines.

July 2009 saw the signing

of the working protocol for the re-

fit and overhaul of the Project

877EKM Sindhurakshak diesel-elec-

tric submarine at the Zvyozdochka

Ship Repair Centre. The contract

worth $80 million is to be signed

in February-March 2010. The subma-

rine will be delivered to Severodvinsk

by a transport ship in June 2010.

The Zvyozdochka Ship Repair

Centre has already upgraded 4

Project 877EKM diesel-electric

submarines of the Indian Navy. It

keeps on repairing and upgrad-

ing the Sindhukirti submarine in its

base, the port of Visakhapatnam

at Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. The con-

tract for modernizing the Sindhukirti

was signed by Rosoboronexport and

India in September 2002. Its medi-

um repair and overhaul is to be com-

plete in 2011.

In September 2009, the Zvyoz-

doch ka Ship Repair Centre was ap-

pointed general contractor for

the re-equipment of four India’s

diesel-electric submarines. The con-

tract between Rosoboronexport

and India’s Navy provides for equip-

ping four Project 877EKM subma-

rines with Klub-S missile systems

designed by the Novator Design

Bureau. This system will be installed

on the Sindhuratna, Sindhuraj,

Sindhushastra and Sindhuvir sub-

marines. The five-year moderniza-

tion will be implemented at Indian

shipyards.

Instead of six torpedo launch-

ers, four submarines will receive

the Klub-S system with a range

of 200 km as well as advanced Indian

hydroacoustic equipment and radio

communications systems.

Russia. Project 1135.6 Frigates

On November 27, 2009, the Yantar

Baltic Shipyard floated out the first

of three Project 1135.6 missile frigates

built for the Indian Navy. The frig-

Tabar frigate project 1135.6

Visby class corvette

MARKETS


ate was named Teg. The programme

stipulates the construction of three

ships for India’s Navy. The rest two

ones still kept on the slipways were

designated Tarkash and Trikand.

The frigates are designed for search-

ing and destroying enemy subma-

rines as well as for antiaircraft and an-

tisubmarine defense.

The first frigate is set for deliv-

ery in the middle of 2011, the sec-

ond one — in late 2011 and the third

one — in 2012.

The $1.6-billion contract for con-

structing three frigates for India’s

Navy was signed on July 14, 2007

in Delhi.

In December 2009, the installa-

tion of weapons systems, namely

two torpedo launchers began on the

Teg frigate. The BrahMos superson-

ic anti-ship missile system had been

mounted before its floating out. Also,

the frigates are equipped with other

advanced air defense and missile sys-

tems, gun mounts and bomb launch-

ers. The first vessel is 70% complete.

Russia. Renting Project 971U Shchuka-B

K-152 Nerpa Nuclear Submarine

The Project 971U Shchuka-B

K-152 Nerpa nuclear submarine

was delivered to the Russian Navy

on December 28, 2009. In September

2009, the third stage of the sub-

marine’s sea trials finished. In ear-

ly November 2008, the inadvertent

occurrence of the fire extinguishing

system happened during Nerpa’s sea

trials and freon filled the compart-

ments killing 20 people. The recov-

ery of the Nerpa submarine cost 1.9

billion rubles. Its repeat tests com-

menced in July 2009.

Under the schedule, the Nerpa

nuclear submarine will be put in ser-

vice with Russia’s Pacific Fleet af-

ter the state acceptance. After that,

the submarine will be leased by

India for 10 years. The contract is

worth $650 million. The hand-over

of the submarine to India’s Navy is

expected to take place no sooner

than April 2010.

France. Scorpen Non-Nuclear Submarine

Construction

India will soon have to pay ex-

tra 20 billion rupees ($410 million)

to French defense companies to pre-

vent further delays in building 6

Scorpen non-nuclear submarines.

The contracts worth 187.98 bil-

lion rupees allowing for building six

Scorpen-class non-nuclear subma-

rines were concluded by the Indian

government with French and Indian

companies in October 2005. It was

initially planned that the first ship

of this series would be built in France

and the rest ones — by Mazagon

Dock Ltd. under the technology

transfer agreement. Later on, it was

decided, however, to manufacture

all the six ships in India. In line with

the contract, the first submarine is

to be delivered in December 2012.

After that, it is planned to commis-

sion one submarine a year. Thus,

the Indian Navy will receive all these

six submarines by December 2017.

K-152 Nerpa nuclear-pow-ered attack submarine of project 971U Shchuka-B

Scorpen-class non-nuclear submarine

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 35

Since December 2006, die-

sel-electric submarines have been

built at Mumbai-based shipbuild-

ing enterprise Mazagon Dock under

a French design. The investigations

show, however, that the first non-nu-

clear submarine will hardly be ready

by the end of 2014.

The French side has demanded

to largely increase the cost of equip-

ment and crucial systems. French

manufacturers have almost doubled

its cost since signing the agreement

in October 2005. The talks on rising

expenses and delivery conditions

of almost all systems except com-

bat ones have been carried out for

over a year. Despite starting the con-

struction of the hulls for diesel-elec-

tric submarines, manufacturing

their internal equipment had not

been agreed as of September 2009.

In August, the defense acquisitions

council asked the government securi-

ty commission to approve the growth

of expenses on French equipment

from €400 to €700 million.

CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS

SIGNED IN 2009

Russia. Renegotiation of Contract for

Admiral Gorshkov Heavy Aircraft Carrier

India will pay $2.3 billion

to Russia for upgrading the Admiral

Gorshkov heavy aircraft carri-

er to the Vikramaditya version.

The initial contract signed by

Rosoboronexport and India’s Defense

Ministry in January 2004 provided for

allocating $974 million for refitting

and re-equipping the ship and $530

million for 16 MiG-29K fighters and

Ka-31 and Ka-27 shipborne antisub-

marine helicopters. It was planned

to deliver the carrier to the Indian

Navy on August 15, 2008.

The refit process, however,

showed that a much larger scope

of works had to be done, which raised

the refit cost, too. Thus, the carri-

er delivery was deferred to 2012.

In addition, Russia asked to increase

the contract cost up to $2.9 billion.

India has already paid about $724

million for upgrading the carrier

in several tranches.

Talks on raising the cost have

been held on different levels since

2007. In February 2008, India agreed

to pay additional $600 million, but

Russian manufacturers said this sum

did not cover all the expenses. The fi-

nal cost was agreed upon during

the visit of Indian Prime-Minister

Manmohan Singh to Moscow in ear-

ly December 2009.

In case of timely funding, Russia

is ready to fulfill the contract obliga-

tions and deliver the carrier no lat-

er than 2012. At present, the ship is

about 60% complete. Its factory tests

will begin in 2010. The Vikramaditya

will become the largest Indian com-

bat ship and is expected to serve for

about 30 years.

Italy. In August 2009, Italian

company Fincantieri declared that

India’s Navy had exercised an op-

tion for building the second ocean-

going refueling ship under the con-

tract signed in October 2008 af-

ter the contest also attended by

Russian and South Korean compa-

nies. The first tanker is set for deliv-

ery by 2010 year-end. The second

one is to be commissioned in the sec-

ond half of 2011.

Fincantieri has already coop-

erated with Indian customers be-

fore. In 2004, it made two contracts

with shipbuilding company Cochin

Shipyard for designing the propul-

sion and transferring its produc-

tion technology as well as render-

ing additional services for the con-

struction of the first Indian air de-

fense carrier. These works are un-

derway now. In addition, Fincantieri

supplied the Indian National

Institute of Ocean Technology with

the Sagar Nidhi oceanographic ship

in late 2007.

Admiral Gorshkov (Vikramaditya) aircraft carrierAdmiral Gorshkov (Vikramaditya) aircraft carrier

MiG-29K carrier-based fighter

MARKETS


IMPLEMENTATION OF INDIAN

NATIONAL PROGRAMMES IN 2009

Almost all Indian national de-

fense shipbuilding project are be-

ing carried out jointly with foreign

companies.

AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

Aircraft Carrier Programme

In late February 2009, the first

national carrier formerly known as

an air defense carrier was keel laid

at the Cochin Shipyard enterprise.

Design works on this ship began

in 2001–2002. It was initially planned

to start its construction in October

2007 and field it with the Indian Navy

by 2011–2012. The implementation

of this project was, however, de-

ferred due to insufficient experience

of Indian designers and delays in de-

liveries of various parts and materials

that could not be made in India.

Launching the ship was sched-

uled for October 2010 and its field-

ing — for 2016. The carrier’s effective

life will be 50 years. More than 70%

of the design was made by Indian

companies. Besides, the whole ship

will be built by India itself with 70%

of its parts manufactured in India,

too.

According to preliminary estima-

tions, the national carrier will cost

32.61 billion rupees ($640 million),

but this amount is expected to large-

ly increase due to delays in deliveries

and various technical problems.

The first national carrier will rep-

resent a 37,500-t vessel with a length

of 252 m, width of 58 m and draft

of 8.4 m. It will be powered by a gas

turbine propulsion including 4

General Electric LM 2500 turbines

with a total capacity of 108,000 hp

propelling the ship up to 28 knots

(52 km/h) and able to cover 7,500 nm

(13,800 km) at a speed of 18 knots

(33.5 km/h). The carrier will be armed

with two batteries of the Trishul ver-

tical-launch air defense missile sys-

tems and four 76-mm Super Rapid

gun mounts. The deck featuring

STOBAR (short takeoff but arrested

recovery) capability will allow receiv-

ing short and vertical take-off air-

craft including MiG-29K/KUBs and

Harriers.

Under the initial plans, the new

carrier will be able to carry up to 30

aircraft including MiG-29K fight-

ers and Ka-31 helicopters as well as

Indian LCA Tejas light combat aircraft

and improved ALH Dhruv advanced

light helicopters.

Repairing Viraat Carrier

The only carrier remaining in India

dubbed Viraat that was undergo-

ing the overhaul in the dry dock re-

turned to the Navy in autumn 2009.

The overhaul will allow it to be in ser-

vice till 2015.

The Indian Navy required

speeding up returning the carrier

to the Navy due to the delayed de-

livery of the Admiral Gorshkov heavy

carrier. The ship dubbed in India

Vikramaditya was set for delivery

in 2008, but its commissioning was

deferred till 2012 due to technical

and financial reasons.

The Indian Navy expects to ob-

tain the first national aircraft carrier

being built at the Cochin Shipyard

state shipbuilding enterprise in addi-

tion to the Russian ship by 2015. This

will allow discarding the Viraat.

During the refit at Cochin Shipyard,

the Viraat was equipped with a new

fire control system, navigation ra-

dars, improved nuclear, biological and

chemical protection as well as deck

landing facilities. The Russian Kashtan

air defense missile gun system was

sent for repair to Russia. Also, the car-

rier is equipped with the Israeli Barak

air defense missile system and BraMos

anti-ship cruise missiles.

In the long run, India plans to field

up to 6 aircraft carriers.

DESTROYERS

Project-15A Destroyers Programme

In September 2009, Mumbai-

based Mazagon Dock Limited

LCA Tejas fighter

Kamov Ka-31 AEW helicopter

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1(51).2010 ● 37

launched the second of three

Kolkata-class Project-15A stealth de-

stroyers. The ship was named Kochi.

This ship is an improved version

of Delhi-class destroyers being in ser-

vice now. At present, the Indian Navy

has three destroyers of this class

dubbed Delhi, Mysore and Mumbai

built in India under the Project-15

programme.

Mazagon Dock is currently build-

ing three Project-15A destroyers.

The total cost of the project approved

by the Indian government in 2000 is

84.6 billion rupees. The draft design

was elaborated by the Indian Navy’s

Design Department.

The construction of the first

Kolkata-class destroyer under

Project-15A began in September

2003. The vessel was launched

in March 2006 when it was 30% com-

plete. Now, it is being equipped with

needed systems. The third ship was

keel laid in February 2006.

According to initial plans, Project-

15A ships were to enter service with

the Indian Navy in May 2010, 2011

and 2012. Numerous delays, how-

ever, made the manufacturer defer

the delivery of the first destroyer

for 3 years till 2013. The reasons in-

clude insufficient funding of propul-

sion and shafts acquisition and tech-

nical problems with weapons sys-

tems, sensors and fire control system.

Project-15B Destroyers Programme

In April 2009, the Indian Defense

Acquisition Council approved build-

ing four new Project-15B destroyers

under the Indian Navy Modernization

Programme. This project is the evo-

lution of Project-15A allowing for

the construction of Kalkota-class de-

stroyers at the Mazagon Dock ship-

yard.

The contract will be signed with

Mazagon Dock in the nearest future,

though the ship design has not been

created yet. Four new stealth ships

built under the national project are

expected to have land-based target

engagement capability.

Considering delays in Project-

15A, Project-15B will be probably de-

ferred till a later term, too if the Navy

fails to finish design works in time

and place orders for parts and ma-

terials with a large production time.

Viraat R22 air-craft carrier

INS Kochi Kolkata class (Project 15A) destroyer

One of three Kolkata class (Project 15A) destroyers at Mazagon Dock Ltd slipway in Mumbai, 2008

MARKETS


The key components for Project-

15B ships including the propulsion

have not been chosen yet. The con-

siderable part of designers want

to use General Electric LM-2500 gas

turbine powerplants and Western

control systems as in case of Shivalik-

class frigates being built under

Project 17. Some experts, howev-

er, insist that Ukrainian propulsion

should be installed.

To take the final decision,

Mazagon Dock has issued a tender

for detailed research and propos-

als on adjusting the ship machinery

compartment for LM-2500 turbines

instead of DT-59 gas turbines and

RG-54 transmission made by Zorya-

Mashproekt. The bid winner will

work out the project and will deliv-

er the needed equipment. The bid-

ders are represented by US Alion

Science and Technology, French

DCNS, Italian Fincantieri and German

ThyssenKrupp Marine System.

The strong point of US-designed

turbines is their assembling at the

HAL-owned plant.

The Indian Navy’s authorities ex-

pect Mazagon Dock to tell them

the cost of Project-15B, after which

the sides will hold talks to agree

on the final conditions. There were

plans to sign the official contract by

the end of 2009.

FRIGATES

Project-17 Frigates Programme

The sea trials of the leading

Project-17 frigate dubbed Shivalik

were to start in April 2009 eight and

a half years after starting its con-

struction. The ship is to be deliv-

ered to the Indian Navy in May or

June 2010. The tests, however, began

three months later due to the sus-

pension of installing LM2500 gas tur-

bines on the first of three Project-17

multifunctional frigates by General

Electric.

The frigate design was creat-

ed by the Surface Ships Group

of the Indian Navy’s Design

Department. The Indian govern-

ment approved starting design

works in 1997, but the contract for

building three ships was signed on-

ly in early 1999. The construction be-

gan two years later due to changing

specifications and problems with im-

porting D-40 steel for the ship hull

from Russia. Mazagon Dock start-

ed building the first frigate named

Shivalik on the basis of the Talvar-

class upgraded frigate on July 11,

2001. In April 2003, the vessel was

launched. Building the second frig-

ate Satpura began in 2002 and it was

launched on June 4, 2004. The third

ship dubbed Sahyadri was keel-laid

on March 17, 2003 and launched

on May 27, 2005.

The long process of equipping

the leading ship was explained

by the need to develop a num-

ber of new technologies and ad-

just the ship to new configurations

of weapons systems.

In particular, the Kashtan short-

range air defense missile gun system

was replaced by the combination

of the Barak air defense missile sys-

tem, AK-630M gun mount and mis-

sile detection radar, which required

not only altering the ship design but

additional design studies for com-

munications, power supply and dis-

tribution systems.

The final weapons configuration

includes one 76-mm Oto Melara

Super Rapid gun mount, two RBU-

6000 antisubmarine rocket launch-

ers with Purga fire control system,

one 3S90 launcher of the Shtil me-

dium-range air defense missile sys-

tem and 8-container 3S14E vertical

launcher for Klub-N missiles with

the 3R-14N-17 fire control system.

In addition, the ship has four

vertical launchers for the Barak-1

short-range air defense missile, two

AK-630M shipborne artillery sys-

tems as well as CSN-56 Kavach trap

launchers. Reconnaissance and de-

tection systems include the Fregat

M2EM three-dimensional radar

with a detection range of 360 km

designed for the Shtil air defense

missile system, Garpun BAL-E ra-

dar for the Klub system, at least

INS Tabar F44 frigate of Talwar class

INS F47 Shivalik, the lead ship of her class, project 17 frigateINS F47 Shivalik, the lead ship of her class, project 17 frigate

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1(51).2010 ● 39

one EL/M-2221 search, tracking

and targeting radar, two Rashmi

I-band navigation radars by Bharat

Electronics and, probably, Scout ra-

dar by Thales. Also, four Orekh tar-

get designation radars for the Shtil

system are available.

The Project 17 frigate features

low radar, infrared and acoustic sig-

nature. The Shivalik will become

the first Indian ship able to use heli-

copters at a sea state of up to 6.

Mazagon Dock plans to deliv-

er the rest two frigates of the series,

Satpura and Sahyadri, to the Indian

Navy by 2010 year-end (the ships will

be probably delivered a year later).

Project-17A Frigate Programme

In June 2009, India’s Defense

Ministry approved the project

of building seven stealth frigates by

national shipbuilding companies. Its

cost is estimated at 450 billion ru-

pees ($9.24 billion).

The Defense Acquisition Council

of the Indian government also ap-

proved this project declaring that

the Project-17A programme should

be carried out by state shipbuild-

ing companies Mazagon Dock and

Garden Reach.

The programme of developing

and building Project-17A stealth frig-

ates is part of the Navy’s plans to re-

ceive next-generation ships and

further development of Project-17

Shivalik multifunctional frigates.

The Project-17 programme allows

for the construction of 12 ships

in total.

It is planned that the Indian

Navy will get the first stealth frig-

ate of the new project 3-4 years after

finishing deliveries of Shivalik-class

frigates.

In December 2007, India’s Navy

sent a request for deliveries of new

stealth frigates to nine leading

shipbuilding companies includ-

ing Russian, French, Italian, South

Korean, Spanish and US companies.

It was initially planned that two

leading Project-17A ships would be

built by a foreign shipbuilding com-

pany and the rest five — in India

under a technology transfer agree-

ment. Official sources, however, say

the DAC has not approved these

proposals.

Nevertheless, experts say a for-

eign shipbuilding company should

take part in the project as the frig-

ates will be built by a modular meth-

od with ship sections built separate-

ly and then put together. Choosing

the foreign subcontractor, which will

transfer this modular construction

technology to Indian shipbuilders,

India’s Defense Ministry is consid-

ering sending requests for propos-

als (specification) to French compa-

ny DCNS, Italian Fincantieri, South

Korean Hyundai, Spanish Navantia,

US Northrop Grumman and an un-

specified Russian shipyard.

The rarely high cost of con-

struction ($1.3 billion) is explained

by considerable investments into

the modernization of production fa-

cilities of Indian companies needed

to manufacture ships by the modu-

lar method.

TANK LANDING SHIPS

Construction of Four Landing Platform

Docks

The Indian Defense Ministry plans

to build four landing platform docks

(LPD), which should join the Austin-

class LPD-14 Trenton helicopter-car-

rying landing platform dock bought

from the US Navy for $48.44 mil-

lion in 2007 and dubbed Jalashwa.

In the nearest 1-2 years the Indian

Navy plans to finish designing

the LPD with characteristics similar

to Jalashwa and ask the government

to approve building a helicopter-car-

rying landing platform dock.

Tank Landing Ships Programme

In May 2009, the Indian Navy

fielded the fifth tank landing ship —

the Magar-class large tank landing

ship dubbed Airavat. Its construction

cost some $100 million.

Deck of INS F47 Shivalik. S14E eight-con-tainer vertical launcher for Club-N missiles is clearly seen.

Helicopter han-gars on NS F47 Shivalik frigate

MARKETS


The vessel was keel laid in Kolkata

at the Garden Reach enterprise

in 2004 and launched on March 27,

2006. The ship is the fifth tank land-

ing ship built in India and the third

ship of the improved Shardul class.

The leading Magar-class tank

landing ship was designed and built

in India in 1984 and put into ser-

vice in 1987. It is based on US tank

landing ships and the British Sir

Lancelot-class vessel. The second

ship named Garial entered service

in 1991. In December 2001, a con-

tract for building three new tank

landing ships was signed. Two

ships of this class dubbed Shardul

and Kesari were built under an im-

proved project and launched

in April 2004 and June 2005, re-

spectively. The Shardul leading ship

was put into service with the Indian

Navy in January 2007. The second

ship dubbed Kesari entered service

in January 2009.

The third ship, a more advanced

version of Magar-class ships, was

also designed for amphibious op-

erations. It features modern weap-

ons and radar systems and radically

changed design.

In addition, in 2007, India bought

Austin-class LPD-14 Trenton helicop-

ter-carrying landing platform dock

dubbed Jalashwa removed from ser-

vice in the US.

SUBMARINES

Nuclear Submarines Programme

On July 26, 2009, the first national

nuclear submarine dubbed Arihant

was launched at the naval base

of Visakhapatnam. The submarine

was designed under the Advanced

Technology Vessel (ATV) programme.

Its development and construction

is estimated at 300 billion rupees

($6.24 billion). Indian defense min-

istry sources say it will enter service

in two years.

The Arihant is the leading of three

nuclear submarines, which construc-

tion was approved by Indian author-

ities. Assembling hulls of the second

and third submarines has already

been finished and their stuffing with

various equipment will soon start

in the dry dock. The submarines will

be fielded in 2015-2017. In addition,

Indian authorities have approved

plans to build another two nuclear

submarines of this type.

The Arihant was jointly developed

and manufactured by the Indian

Defense Ministry’s Defense Research

& Development Organization, Navy,

Department of Atomic Energy and

private defense company Larsen &

Toubro.

Navy sources say this nuclear sub-

marine will carry 12 vertical-launched

missiles (perhaps Sagarika) and tor-

pedo launchers. It will have a maxi-

mum submerged speed of 24 knots

and a crew of about 100 people.

The prototype of the Sagarika

nuclear submarine-launched ballis-

tic missile was successfully tested

in February 2008. As India’s Navy

does not have any nuclear subma-

rines so far, the missile was launched

from a dedicated underwater plat-

form (the exact copy of the sub-

marine) near India’s south-eastern

coast not far from Visakhapatnam.

Its operational range is 700 km.

Nevertheless, it is still unknown

whether Sagarika is a ballistic or

a cruise missile.

The launched nuclear submarine

is already equipped with a power-

plant, vertical missile launchers and

torpedo tubes. The next stage will

include checking the 80-MW nu-

clear reactor created jointly with

Russia.

Purchase of Home-Made Small Diesel-

Electric Submarines

India plans to buy five small

home-made submarines that should

protect Indian coast from terrorist

attacks. Small submarines will enter

service with the special operation

forces. Their crew will be 4-6 people.

The submarines will be able to dive

deep into the sea. Besides, they can

be remotely controlled and will be

capable of attacking the enemy with

torpedoes. Perhaps, India will dou-

ble the order for such submarines

and raise their total amount up to 10.

INS L16 Shardul amphibious warfare vessel

INS Jalashva (L41) amphibi-ous transport dock

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1(51).2010 ● 41

BOATS AND PATROL SHIPS

Saryu-Class NOPV Naval Offshore Patrol

Vessels

On November 14, 2009, the Goa

Shipyard enterprise launched

the second of four Saryu-class NOPV

offshore patrol ships ordered by

the Indian Navy.

The vessel is the version

of the Coast Guard’s Sankalp-class

AOPV advanced offshore patrol ves-

sel adjusted for combat operations

on the sea. Its main tasks are patrol-

ling territorial sea, controlling sea

routes, reconnaissance operations,

protection of offshore oil fields and

escort operations.

The ship dubbed Sunaina was

keel-laid in September 2007. It is ex-

pected that installing its equipment

will be over by the second quarter

of 2011.

The Indian government ap-

proved the construction of three

NOPV ships in March 2005 and in-

cluded an option for building

the fourth one, which was realized

in 2006. The keel of the leading ship

was laid in the end of 2006. Cutting

steel for the third vessel began

in 2008. The Saryu is to enter ser-

vice with India’s Navy in 2010.

Construction of AOPV Ships for Coast

Guard

In January 2009, India’s Coast

Guard fielded the sixth AOPV

Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel

of Sankalp class designed and built

by Goa Shipyard Ltd.

The patrol ship dubbed Samrat

is the sixth AOPV ship and the sec-

ond one built under the Sankalp

project. It is the largest and most

advanced ship in service with

the Indian Coast Guard. The lead

ship of Sankalp class entered ser-

vice in May 2008.

AOPV ships are being built for

the Coast Guard by Goa Shipyard.

The ships are manufactured fully

in India employing advanced tech-

nologies.

Car Nicobar Class Patrol Ships

Construction Programme

In September 2009, the Indian

Navy received two Car Nicobar-class

WJFAC (Water Jet Fast Attack Crafts)

patrol ships. The Cora Divh (T-71)

and Cheriyam (T-72) ships became

the third and fourth ships of the im-

proved series built by Garden Reach.

The first two vessels named Car

Nicobar (T-69) and Chetlat (T-70) en-

tered service with the Indian Navy

in February 2009.

The Car Nicobar project is an im-

proved version of Bangaram-class

(SDB Mk.5) large patrol ships also

built by Garden Reach. Six ships

of this class reaching a speed of 30

knots were put into service from

August 2001 to September 2006.

By October 2010, Garden Reach

should deliver 10 Car Nicobar-class

ships to the Indian Navy. Three

ships are under construction now,

of which two were set for delivery

to the Indian Navy in December

2009. Each vessel costs about 500

million rupees.

Garden Reach is also building

eight offshore patrol boats of this

class for the Indian Coast Guard and

has already delivered 13 5-t and 12-

t patrol vessels to various law-en-

forcement bodies. After the terror-

ist attack on Mumbai, India’s Interior

Ministry ordered 78 fast interceptor

boats totally worth $26.760 million

to patrol India’s coastline including

48 12-t and 30 5-t vessels.

ADVANCED PROJECTS

USA. Lockheed Martin is negotiat-

ing with India’s Navy representatives

on the possible installation of the Ijis

air/missile defense system on Indian

combat ships and its possible inte-

gration with home-made weapons

systems.

ICGS Sankalp advanced offshore patrol vessel (AOPV) (46)

ICGS Samrat advanced off-shore patrol vessel (AOPV) (47)

MARKETS


ARMY EQUIPMENT

ARTILLERY SYSTEMS TENDER BY

INDIA’S DEFENSE MINISTRY

Modernization of field cannons

Modernization of field cannons

is a major program of the Indian

Army. According to the field artil-

lery modernization plan, the Indian

Army plans to import ready kits to as-

semble 3,600 howitzers somewhere

between 2020 and 2025. The new

equipment will consist primarily

of 155 mm\52 cal towed, wheeled

and tracked cannons as well as

140 155 mm\39 cal ultralight how-

itzers. Additionally, the Army plans

to keep 400 45-caliber FH-77Bs and

180 Russian-made 130 mm М-46

Russian-made field cannons, which

have been recently upgraded by

Israel’s Soltam Systems to 155 mm/39

cal. The total value of the deal to sup-

ply cannons meant to re-equip of up

to 220 Indian artillery regiments can

reach $7 billion.

The Indian Defense Ministry post-

ed a tender for superlight, towed and

self-propelled howitzers in February

2008 to modernize and standardize

its artillery inventory mainly com-

prised of Soviet-made pieces.

Towed artillery system tender


ed a tender for 400 155 mm/52 cal

towed howitzers in February 2008.

The deal will include an option for li-

censed production of 1,800 cannons

in India.

Eight companies were invited

to take part in the tender. In January

2009, foreign companies submitted

rival bids to supply the Indian Army

with 155 mm/52 cal towed howitzers.

A following evaluation showed that

only the offers made by BAE Systems

and ST Kinetics met the Indian

Army’s requirements.

In June 2009, however, Singa-

po re’s ST Kinetics was blacklist-

ed by the Indian Central Bureau

of Investigation (CBI) besides oth-

er six companies for alleged involve-

ment in a corruption case featur-

ing an Indian defense enterprise’s

top manager. ST Kinetics was on the

investigation list along with Israel’s

IMI, Singapore’s Media Architects,

Poland’s BVT, Indian TS Kishan, RK

International Machine Tools and HYT

Engineering. The Defense Ministry

announced a temporary halt in the

negotiations. The towed howitzer

tender was therefore suspended for

around half a year while the tests

were initially scheduled for the sum-

mer of 2009.

It was as late as December 2009

that the Indian government decid-

ed to admit the Singaporean compa-

ny to tests which now have to take

place before mid-2010. The Indian

defense Ministry announced, how-

ever, that even if ST Kynetics wins, no

contract is going to be signed un-

til the CBI finishes its investigation

and all allegations are cleared. No ex-

pected date of investigation comple-

tion have yet been announced.

ST Kynetics offered the FH 2000

155mm\52 cal towed howitzer.

The gun, firing 155mm NATO rounds,

weighs 13.5 tons and has a maxi-

mum towing speed of 80 km\h.

The FH 2000 can fire M107 shells and

ERFB Base Bleed rounds at 19 km and

40 km, respectively, and has a rate

of fire of 3 three shells per 15 sec-

FH-2000 155mm towed howitzer

INS Cankarso fast attack craft of Car Nikobar class (T73)

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 43

onds to 20 seconds, while its practi-

cal rate of fire is two rounds per min-

ute within half an hour.

Ultralight howitzer tender


ed a tender for 140 155mm/39 cal

ultralight howitzers in February

of 2008. The contract, which could

amount to $740 million, is meant

to equip two new alpine divisons

with guns capable of supporting

Army operations in mountainous

areas. The Singapore Technologies

Kynetics (ST Kynetics) has been

the top contender until recently.

The project, however, showed

nearly no progress in 2009 due

to the current CBI investigation in-

volving ST Kynetics.

The delay in the Indian Defense

Ministry’s ultralight howitzer acqui-

sition program allowed BAE Systems

to compete for the tender, offer-

ing the 155mm M 777. Although

the company had decided earlier not

to offer the M 777 for the 155mm ul-

tralight howitzer tender by India’s

defense Ministry posted in February

2008 as it supposed to be failing

to meet all the requirements, it has

resumed negotiations. The current

investigation involving ST Kynetics

has made the situation rather favor-

able for BAE Syetems, as no other

company in the world now can put

forward an alternative offer.

ST Kynetics offered a the Pegasus

155mm\39cal light towed howitzer

largely made of light alloys. The gun

weighs 5.400 kg and has a maximum

towing speed of 50 km\h and re-

quires a crew of 6. The system can

be carried by either C-130s or heavy-

lift helicopters. The Pegasus can fire

any standard NATO round, including

M107s and ERFB Base Bleed rounds

delivered at distances of up to 19 km

and 30km, respectively. The gun has

a rate of fire of 3 rounds in 24 sec-

onds, a maximum rate of fire of 4

rounds per minute within aperiod

of three minutes and a combat rate

of 2 rounds per minute within half

an hour. To-date, the Pegasus is oper-

ated only by the Singaporean Armed

Forces. This gun is able to change

fire positions at a speed of up to 12

km\h with the help of a 21 kilowatt

diesel engine.

The investigation was bad news

for the Singaporean company which

delivered the howitzers and test-rel-

evant equipment by a hired C-130

Hercules in late May of 2009. By

the time the negotiations were halt-

ed, ST Kynetics had finished deploy-

ment of the systems.

The 155mm M 777 howitzer, de-

veloped by BAE Systems to replace

the outdated M 198s, has better per-

formance and has half the weight

of the latter. The Ti and Al alloys

have helped to reduce the howit-

zer’s weight to just 4,218 kg. The M

777 has a length of 10.2 m in fire po-

sition. Less weight means more mo-

bility, allowing the howitzer to be

transported not only by C-130s, but

by medium-lift helicopters as well,

which is important as the latter are

on the list of India’s planned acquisi-

tions. The M 777 includes a new dig-

ital fire control system (DFCS) but

fires the same rounds as its prede-

cessor along with modern satellite-

guided projectiles.

Self-propelled howitzer tender

The Indian Defense Ministry put

out a tender for 120 155mm/52 cal

towed and self-propelled howitzers.

In February 2008.

In January 2009, foreign compa-

nies submitted their offers.

The project’s value totals $2 bil-

lion. Although prototype tests were

scheduled for the summer of 2009,

they are most likely to have been

postponed.


SIGNED IN 2009

France. In January 2009, the MBDA

company confirmed reports that

it had signed an agreement with

the Indian Defense Ministry

in December 2008 to continue li-

M-777 155mm howitzer

MARKETS


censed production of. The validi-

ty period of the new agreement is

4 years. The order was contracted

to Bharat Dynamics Ltd. The Indian

Army are planning an additional pur-

chase of 4,100 MILAN 2T anti-tank

guided missile systems. The contract

price is Rs 5.92 billion ($121.3 million).

The contract stipulates that most

of the component parts be manufac-

tured by Bharat Dynamics Ltd along-

side with other Indian companies.

Bharat Dynamics is also responsi-

ble for the final assembly of the anti-

tank missiles. MBDA will supply some

of warhead components.

The Indian Army has been operat-

ing MILAN AT missile systems since

1981. The second generation AT mis-

sile with a range of 2 km is license-

manufactured by Bharat Dynamics

Ltd for infantry units and combat

vehicles. In late December 2007,

India abandoned the plan to pro-

duce the MILAN ER systems with

an extended range in cooperation

with France after having evaluated

the field test results. It was reported

that in 2008, India signed a Rs 13.8

billion (around $300 million) con-

tract for 15,000 Russian-designed

Konkurs-M AT missile systems

by Bharat Dynamics. Production

of Russian-designed Konkurs-M

AT missiles was also contracted

to Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

The decision to buy a significant

number of MILAN 2Ts was first an-

nounced by Deepak Kapoor, Chief

of Staff of the Indian Army, at a con-

ference of the Indian Army and

Defense Ministry leaders in May

2008.

The MILAN 2T, developed by

MBDA, is fitted with a tandem charge

warhead allowing it to go through

modern reactive armor. The modi-

fied MILAN 2T, equipped with an im-

proved solid-propellant engine, tan-

dem charge warhead and a new con-

trol system, has a range of 2000 m

and a launch weight of 12 kg. Its

warhead weighs 3 kg. A MILAN AT

missile launcher requires a two-man

crew and can be mounted on a tri-

pod, a tank or another kind of an ar-

mored vehicle.

STATUS OF INDIA’S NATIONAL

PROGRAMS IN 2009

Modernization of 155mm FH 77B\39 cal

howitzers

The protracted moderniza-

tion of Indian Army-operated

390 155mm\39 cal FH-77B howit-

zers supplied by Bofors to 45 cali-

ber is facing a failure risk because

of the high requirements put for-

Milan-2 anti-tank missile systemMilan-2 anti-tank missile system

Pegasus 155mm how-itzer

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1(51).2010 ● 45

ward by the Indian Army’s Artillery

Command.

India acquired the guns in 1987

and still keeps a total of 410 FH-

77Bs, intending to expand their ef-

fective range and add a capability

to fire heavier rounds. Upgrades will

include replacement of the barrel

and breech, strengthening of the un-

dercarriage as well as installation

of modern sights.

Despite some Artillery Directorate

members saying that the such a goal

is almost impossible, the Army com-

mand has no authority to modify

the specifications, which is the pre-

rogative of the Defense Minister.

Detailed specifications made

up by the Defense Ministry in 2006

remain unfulfilled. In early 2009,

the Ministry issued a modified list

of requirements, but BAE Systems,

the manufacturer of FH-77Bs, said it

was unable to meet them.

Out of 12 private Indian compa-

nies authorized to manufacture de-

fense-oriented products, only TATA

and Ordnance Factories Board (OFB)

responded to the initiative. The top

privately-owned defense compa-

ny was among those who refused

to participate.

Today, the Bofors-manufactured

155mm\39 cal FH-77B howitzer is

the most advanced artillery system

with the Indian Army. The $1.2 bil-

lion (Rs 14 billion) worth deal to de-

liver 410 such guns was signed

by the Induian government and

the Swedish company on March 24,

1986.

A corruption controversy sparked

by the deal still haunts Bofors

20 years after, preventing the com-

pany from getting a contract to sup-

ply field guns to India. Although

the FH 77B05 L52 offered by Bofors

was the only contender in 2006 af-

ter the Israeli Soltam Systems and

South African Denel were excluded,

Defence Minister A.K. Antony decid-

ed to hold another tender.

Nag AT missile system

The Nag anti-tank missile sys-

tem went into mass production after

stage two of its final acceptance tri-

als met with success in the Rajasthan

Desert in August of 2009.

Introduction of the missile in the

Army was expected to begin by

the end of 2009.

The Nag AT missile was devel-

oped by DRDO in Hyderabad as part

of the Integrated Guided Missile

Development Program (IGMDP)

launched in 1983. The program was

aimed at developing a range of next

generation missiles including Akash

medium-range and Trishul short-

range surface-to-air missiles. Field

tests of the Nag AT missile began

in November of 1990.

The missiles will be produced by

the state-owned Bharat Dynamics,

which is expected to manufacture

200 units over the first produc-

tion year. The output will be raised

twofold over the following peri-

od. The Indian Army needs a total

of 4,000 AT missiles.

The Nag AT missile will be fit-

ted on armored combat vehi-

cles and Army helicopters. In addi-

tion to the mobile version mount-

ed on the NAMICA Nag missile ar-

mored carrier fitted with 12 missiles,

out of which 8 fire-ready, the Nag

family will include the Helina missile

meant to be carried on ALH Dhruv

advanced light helicopters. After

the land-based version is fully de-

veloped, DRDO will focus on improv-

ing and testing of the airborne vari-

ant, which is planned to be mount-

ed on a helicopter, carrying 8 mis-

siles in two launchers. Initial tests

of the airborne version are expect-

FH-77B 155mm howitzer

Akash medium-range SAM

MARKETS


ed to begin in late 2009. The Helina

AT missile will have a range of 7 km,

a capability that the land-based Nag

is expected to have after future mod-

ernization.

MLRS Pinaka upgrade program

The Armament Research and

Development Establishment (ARDE)

is working on an advanced MLRS

Pinaka variant.

The Pinaka multiple-launch rock-

et system was developed in 1983

by Indian companies supervised by

ARDE to replace the Soviet-made

BM-21 Grads. The first prototype was

ready by 1994, with tests starting

in 1995. In 2000, the Indian Army

raised the first regiment equipped

with three batteries of Pinaka

launchers, each battery compris-

ing six pieces along with support

units. Production is currently un-

der way to equip another regiment

as well. Simultaneously, research is

being performed to improve both

the launcher and the missiles.

A standard MLRS has a range

of between 39 km and 40 km and

can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44

seconds, covering an area of 3.9

square kilometers. The missiles can

be fitted with a variety of warheads

thus enabling the MLRS to destroy

rugged installations.

ARDE announced that it is cur-

rently developing a MLRS-fired 7.2

meter-long guided missile capa-

ble of delivering a 250 kg warhead

at a distance from 70 km to 120 km.

Umanned aerial vehicles are planned

to be used to increase the firing ac-

curacy. The new missile is expected

to be displayed in 2011 and adopted

by the military in 2012.

The Pinaka, built on the chassis

of a license-produced Tatra-815 8x8

prime mover, has a combat weight

of 8 tons and is operate by a five-

men crew. The system fires 214mm

4.95m-long non-guided rockets

weighing 276 kg each. Every rocket

has a 100kg warhead. A Pinaka bat-

tery is made up of 6 launchers, six

loaders and a command station fur-

nished with a digital fire control sys-

tem and a weather radar.

INDIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY’S

ARMORED VEHICLE TENDERS

Tender for 500 new APCs

To increase the capability

of the Army mechanized units, India

plans to buy 100 infantry fighting ve-

hicles to operate in variable terrain

regions.

The Indian Army posted a tender

to buy at least 100 IFVs, with the pro-

duction of the rest of the planned

500 to be licensed to an Indian com-

pany as part of a technology trans-

fer deal.

According to India’s Ministry

of Defense, the Army wants to re-

ceive over 500 new APCs within

five years to add to their inventory

consisting of 1,500 Russian-designed

BMP-1s and BMP-2s.

To-date, the Indian Army has

26 mechanized infantry battalions

equipped with APCs with a capaci-

ty of 10 soldiers each. Some of those

vehicles are also fitted with AT guid-

ed missile launchers.

According to the Indian Army’s re-

quirements, the new APCs are to be

air-transportable by both the cur-

rently operated Il-76s and the C-130J,

which are now being acquired.

The weight and size of the new

APCs should allow them to be trans-

ported by landing craft including

the Jalashwa amphibious transport

dock, originally Austin-class LPD-14

Trenton, and Airavat-class tank land-

ing ships.

Light tank tender

The Indian Army is seeking to ac-

quire 300 light tanks to increase its

capabilities in mountain areas over

3000 m above the sea level border-

ing on China and Pakistan. The Indian

military needs tanks able to oper-

Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher SystemPinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher System

Namica mobile platform (Nag anti-tank mis-sile system on idigenous armored vehi-cle)

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 47

ate in urban and rural conditions,

on mountain, desert and swampy

terrain and in coastal areas to ensure

superiority over a nuclear enemy.

An international tender is aimed

at acquiring 200 wheeled and 100

light tracked tanks weighing up

to 22 tons. Responses to the request

are due to be submitted to the Indian

Defense Ministry by October 30, 2009.

The light tank platform should

feature modern communications

and reconnaissance equipment. It

is also has to be highly mobile and

able to incorporate various modules

to ensure operability in a variety

of conditions and regions.

The tender stipulates that the tank

be fit to carry multirole weapon sys-

tems including a cannon and a mis-

sile system to provide enough capa-

bility in peace enforcement missions

during high-intensity conflicts.

Wheeled (preferably 8x8) and

tracked light tanks should have

a height and length not exceeding

2.8 m and 7.8 m, respectively, a low

profile and high clearance. Tanks

should also offer a floating capability

and all-weather, night and day oper-

ability. The equipment sets must in-

clude protection systems against la-

ser, infrared and radar homing weap-

ons as well as NBC protection.

By now, most of the Indian Army’s

64 armor regiments operate T-72M1

and T-90S tanks, totaling 2,800 piec-

es. Around 11 regiments still ride up-

graded T-55s, which are being grad-

ually replaced by T-90S and modern-

ized T-72M1 MBTs.

As for light tanks, they are most

likely to be supplied to the two

mountain divisions meant for de-

ployment along the Chinese border

in India’s north-east. Light tanks are

easier to transport and thus to rede-

ploy between regions with different

climate and terrain.

Between 90 and 100 light tanks

may be supplied to two new ar-

mor regiments, with another 200

joining the reconnaissance regi-

ments of the two main strike corps

of the Indian Army stationed sta-

tioned in Ambala (200 km north

of Delhi) and Jansi (400 km south-

east of the capital).

LBPV tender for National Guard

The Indian National Guard’s ten-

der for light bullet proof vehicles

(LBPVs) received offers from seven

companies. No information is yet

available on the exact number of ve-

hicles to be supplied.

Three offers were reported

to have made it to the final stage

of the competition, including

the new 4х4 light patrol armored car

TUR 3 designed by Polish AMZ Kutno.

The TUR 3 vehicle was present-

ed by Vectra, a partner of Poland’s

Metaleksport-S, which represents

AMZ Kutno in India. If the Tur wins

the competition, Vectra will be

the main contractor to license-pro-

duce over 500 such armored fighting

vehicles (AFVs) in India.

The offered vehicles were put

to an extreme conditions test

in Kashmere in 2009. No informa-

tion is available on the two other ve-

hicles, though. The two unknown

finalists, however, are most likely

to include the American company

Arotech. The winner will be selected

until the end of 2009.

NEGOTIATIONS AND INTENTIONS

Great Britain. In January of 2009,

India’s Ministry of Finance accept-

ed an application by Mahindra and

Mahindra and Britain’s BAE Systems

to create a joint venture to devel-

op and manufacture defense prod-

ucts for both Indian domestic mar-

ket and export.

The companies are allowed

to invest Rs 289.4 million ($6 mil-

lion) in the enterprise. According

to the Indian regulations on direct

foreign investments, the Indian com-

pany will hold a 74 per cent share

Sarat BMP-2 infantry fighhting vehicle

T-55 Main Battle Tank

MARKETS


in the JV, while BAE Systems will get

a 26 per cent stake.

The previous application sub-

mitted by the two companies was

rejected by the Finance Ministry’s

Commission on Foreign Investments

in October of 2008, as BAE Systems

was willing to get 49 per cent

of the new company’s shares, which

contradicted the actual standards.

Following the law, the Indian govern-

ment made no exception in that case.

The new JV will be headquartered

in Delhi, while manufacturing assets

will be in Faridabad. BAE Systems and

Mahindra and Mahindra planned

to finalize the enterprise’s structure

and begin production by the end

of 2009.

Initially, the new company will

be busy manufacturing add-on ar-

mor for Rakshak AFVs and assem-

bling Axe all-terrain cars alongside

with developing landmine-resistant

vehicles for the Indian Armed Forces.

On its part, BAE Systems is planning

to cooperate with Mahindra and

Mahindra to assembly RG-31 Nyala

vehicles in Indian territory .

BAE Systems has already deliv-

ered 165 Casspir APCs to India’s mil-

itary.

USA. The MDT Armor Corp.

of the U.S.-based Arotech an-

nounced in August of 2009 the com-

pletion of the development com-

pletion of a new C8 LWAV (Light

Weight Armored Vehicle) meant

for the Indian market. The India-

based Concord Safety Systems joint

venture, created by U.S. company

Arotech and co-founded by MKU,

India’s major armor manufactur-

er, and car body maker JN Group,

was offered to take part in the com-

petition to supply armored vehi-

cles to the Indian Army. Arotech de-

signed the C8 LWAV light armored

vehicle for the tender. The first pro-

totypes were made by Concord

Safety Systems in Dehradun, India.

In the fall of 2009, the AFVs un-

derwent field trials with the Indian

Army’s Northern Command. Mass

production of these vehicles for

paramilitary units is most likely to be

launched in the near future.

CURRENT PROGRAMS INVOLVING

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

Russia. On August 24, 2009, a cere-

mony took place at the Heavy Vehicle

Factory (HVF) in Avadi to hand over

the first batch of 10 T-90S MBTs

(Indian codename “Bishma”) pro-

duced in India under a license pro-

vided by Russia, to the Indian Army.

The 10 MBTs were sent to the 73th

Indian Army regiment for trials.

The enterprise is expected to li-

cense-produce up to 100 T-90S

MBTs annually starting from 2010.

According to DRDO, every Indian-

made T-90 will cost up to Rs 150 mil-

lion (around $3 million).

The first contract worth $800 mil-

lion (Rs 36.25 billion) to deliver 310

T-90S MBTs to India was signed

in 2001. 124 tanks were shipped fully

assembled, with the other 186 piec-

es assembled at HVF using the ready

kits supplied by Uralvagonzavod.

In 2006, another deal was made al-

lowing India to license-produce

1,000 T-90S tanks by 2020. On

November 30, 2007, the Indian gov-

ernment signed a major deal worth

Rs 49 billion ($1,237 billion) to buy

347 T-90S MBTs from Russia, includ-

ing 124 fully assembled ones and 223

ready kits.

In May of 2009, India stroke a deal

with Russia for an additional deliv-

ery of 50 Т-90S MBTs, which will al-

T-72M1 Ajeya of the Indian Army

Light Armoured Patrol Vehicle Tour-3

RG-31 Nyala armored vehicle

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 49

low the equipment of two tank reg-

iments until the end of 2009.

Russia’s Uralvagonzavod enter-

prise was to supply India with 60

ready T-90S MBTs in 2009. India al-

so expected to receive tanks due

to a new contract signed in 2009.

Russia completed transferring

the MBT manufacturing technology

to the Indian defense industry in late

2008, allowing India to launch full-

cycle production of T-90s in Avadi.

The T-90S tanks will gradually re-

place the outdated T-55s and ear-

ly versions of the T-72. The total val-

ue of the contracts signed amount-

ed to $3 billion. The Indian Armed

Forces expect to receive a total

of 1,700 T-90S MBTs by 2020.

The reason behind India’s decision

to buy T-90S MBTs is that the tank

is a deep modernization of the Т-72

which has long been in use with

the country’s land forces. The tank

acquisition is part of the plan to raise

21 and 40 regiments outfitted with

T-90S and T-72M1 Ajeya MBTs, re-

spectively. The similarity of these

models makes personnel training

and maintenance much easier. By

2020, the total number T-90S and

T-72M1 MBTs operate by the Indian

Army is expected to hit 3,800.

STATUS OF INDIA’S NATIONAL

PROGRAMS IN 2009

Arjun MBT program

The year 2009 was decisive for

the Arjun program.

In February of 2009, after a large

number of adjustments had been

made, the Indian Defense Ministry fi-

nally decided to adopt the Arjun MBT.

The Combat Vehicles Research

and Development Establishment

(CVRDE) is expected to supply 79

Arjun MBTs, made under the super-

vision of the Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO),

to the Indian ground forces by March

2010. The per unit cost of the tank is

Rs 190 million ($4 million).

By now, the Indian Defense

Ministry has a delivery agreement for

124 domestically-developed tanks,

with 45 already supplied by June

of 2009. The rest will be delivered by

March of 2010.

To-date, the Arjun is a 60-ton

MBT fitted with a 120mm cannon.

The tank has a body length of 10.6 m

and a height of 3 m. it is 3.8 m wide

and has a crew of four. The gunner’s

sight, fitted with a laser range find-

er, is capable of tracking three tar-

gets simultaneously by day and by

night. The tank features heavy com-

posite armor, laser illumination sen-

sors, a smoke screen system and NBC

protection. The battle tank can al-

so be fitted with add-on reactive ar-

mor when necessary. The Arjun is

equipped with a 1,400 hp MTU en-

gine and RENK transmission, and has

a maximum speed of 70 km\h and 40

km\h on highway and off-road.

The Arjun can effectively engage

targets with up to 450mm-thick ar-

mor at a distance of 2,500m with

FSAPDS rounds which have a max-

imum muzzle velocity of 1,660 me-

ters per second. The tank can al-

so fire HESH high-explosive armor-

piercing, ballistic and shaped-charge

projectiles. The rate of fire is 6 to 8

rounds per minute. Secondary arma-

ment includes a coaxial 7.62mm Mg

and a 12,7mm AA MG.

By now, foreign suppliers ac-

count for 25 per cent to 30 per

cent of the tank’s components.

In the coming years, India plans

to reduce its dependence on MBT

part imports by developing replace-

ment components domestically.

Although a Rs 17.6 billion-

worth contract for 124 Arjun MBTs

was signed in 2000, the Indian

Parliament’s Defense Commission

stated in 2008 that the Arjun

MBT showed unsatisfactory re-

sults during the customer’s win-

ter tests in the Rajasthan des-

ert in December of 2007. Army re-

ports said that the tank needed

a significant number of adjustments

to meet all the requirements. In July

of 2008, the Indian Army Command

announced that it was not go-

ing to place additional orders for

Arjun MBTs outside the 124-unit or-

der from the Heavy Vehicle Factory

(HVF) in Avadi.

According to the Indian Army,

the Arjun MBT, though a modern

tank to remain operational within

the next decade, can not compete

with next-generation developments.

India is therefore seeking to de-

sign an advanced battle tank which

would be highly competitive interna-

tionally in the next 20 years.

DRDO, in its turn, is pressing

the Indian Government for an or-

der of at least 500 domestically-

made tanks to the Arjun program

and to use it as the basis for next

generation tank development.

The Indian top brass insisted

on the adoption of the Arjun MBT

despite despite objections from

the Ground Forces which agreed

to accept the tank only after the iden-

tified deficiencies are eliminated.

The requirements for the Arjun

MBT were developed back in 1972.

In 1982, it was announced that

the prototype tank was ready for

field tests. The vehicle, however, was

officially shown off as late as in 1995.

T-90S Bhishma Main Battle Tank

MARKETS


Although the cost of the Arjun pro-

gram development was initially es-

timated at Rs 150 million, the fig-

ure has grown to Rs 3 billion by now.

Improved landmine protection armored

vehicle production program

In November 2009, the Indian

Army received the first batch of 14

Yukthirath armored vehicles with

improved landmine protection from

the IOF (Indian Ordnance Factory).

To-date, the Medak-based enter-

prise is busy working to supply 327

new armored vehicles to the Indian

Armed Forces. The government,

however, is ready to allocate addi-

tional funding to expand the order

for up to 1,400 units.

The Indian Army and other servic-

es use AFVs with improved landmine

protection extensively in counterin-

surgency operations in Jammu and

Cashmere, as well as in other regions.

According to the company’s

spokesman, the AFV Yukthirath’s

performance excels that of the pre-

vious versions, as well as of the South

African Casspir APCs.

The 12-ton vehicle was devel-

oped with Israeli aid is built on the

chassis of the currently operation-

al Stallion Mk.3 4x4 trucks. Just like

the South African Casspirs, the new

Indian vehicle has a monocoque

body with a V-shape bottom offer-

ing protection against landmine ex-

plosions with a TNT yield of up to 14

kg and 10 kg under the wheels or

body, respectively, as well as 7.62

mm bullets fired from a 10-meter

distance. The vehicle also features

bullet-proof windows.

The per unit cost of the AFV is Rs

10 million ($214,000), which is far be-

low the pricing of foreign-made ar-

mored vehicles selling for up to Rs 30

million ($640,000).

AIR DEFENCE/ANTI-BALLISTIC

MISSILE SYSTEMS

TALKS AND PLANS

USA. India has entered into pre-

liminary talks with the USA on the

procurement of the Patriot PAC-3

air defence/anti-ballistic missile sys-

tem. Talks that had been conduct-

ed for two years intensified in 2009,

and entered into technical consul-

tations phase. The US Department

of Defense specialists presented

to Indian experts the new system’s

capabilities on its computerized

model. The Defence Research and


experts attended at two test launch-

es of the system’s interceptor mis-

siles.

France. France intends to devel-

op together with India a new short-

range surface-to-air missile (SR SAM).

Talks on this project are nearing con-

clusion. This well may be the Maitri

project designed to develop a new-

generation short-range surface-

to-air missile based on technolo-

gies from the MBDA’s MICA missile

and India’s (terminated) Trishul pro-

gramme. The project cost is estimat-

ed at approximately 500 million USD.

It is planned that MBDA will devel-

op the missile, active homing head,

and engine thrust control system

The Indian side will develop soft-

ware, flight control and monitoring

system, and perform the missile final

assembly. The Defence Research and


will also supply for the project two

3-D target acquisition and tracking

radars capable of simultaneously

tracking up to 150 targets at a range

of 200 km.

In 2008, when the DRDO is-

sued performance requirements

for a joint short-range surface-to-

air missile development project, was

started selection of a foreign partner

in the project.


CONCLUDED IN 2009

Israel. In January 2009 India or-

dered 300 additional surface-to-air

missiles for the Barak air defence

missile system purchased earlier.

The contract cost is 480 million USD.

The Barak air defence missile sys-

tem is an up-to-date ship-borne

air defence/anti-missile system.

The Barak system’s surface-to-air

missiles are fired from vertical launch

containers. Target interception is

based on the radar command line-

of-sight guidance principle. The sys-

tem provides effective engagement

of highly agile missiles at extreme-

ly low altitudes, cruise missiles, la-

ser-guided bombs, aircraft and heli-

copters within the all-round (360-de-

gree) sector. Its surface-to-air mis-

siles are capable of engaging targets

in any weather conditions by day

and night within the range of 500

m to 10 km and at the altitude of up

to 5 km.

The Barak surface-to-air missile

has the following specifications: mis-

sile length — 2.5 m, body diame-

ter — 0.25 m, launch weight — 98 kg,

maximum speed — 1.6 Mach, war-

Yuktirat armored vehicle with advance anti-mine protec-tion

Arjun Main Battel Tank

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 51

head weight — 21.8 kg. The Barak air

defence/anti-missile system (includ-

ing missile containers, EL/M-2221 ra-

dar, and computerised control sys-

tem) costs about 24 million USD.

The Barak missiles systems were ini-

tially procured because of delays

in the development of the indige-

nous Trishul/Akash system. The first

Barak air defence missile system was

delivered in early 2000 and installed

on the INS Viraat aircraft carrier.

India’s DRDO and Israeli IAI

company have been developing

the Barak-2 ship-based air defence/

anti-missile system with the effec-

tive range of 70 km since January

2006. It is expected that the pro-

gramme worth 26.06 billion INR

(about 650 million USD) will be com-

pleted by 2011. The latest air de-

fence/anti-missile system will con-

sist of four basic components: —

multifunctional surveillance and

early warning radar with the oper-

ational range of 350 km; — weap-

ons control system with communi-

cation links; — vertical launchers; —

and two-stage interceptor missiles.

The new surface-to-air missile de-

rived from the first basic missile will

be fitted with an improved seek-

er. The new air defence/anti-missile

systems are planned to be installed

first onboard three INS Calcutta-

project missile destroyers.

Israel. In its official statement

the IAI company informed about

the conclusion of a contract

on 27 February 2009 for the de-

livery to India of the MR-SAM me-

dium-range air defence/anti-mis-

sile system worth 1.4 billion USD.

Under this contract the IAI com-

pany shall develop and manufac-

ture both land-based and shipborne

air defence/anti-missile systems

for the Indian Ministry of Defence.

Some payments due according

to the Contract shall be effected

in advance during the development

phase, while the remaining sum

shall be paid off during a 66-month

delivery period starting within 90

months from the date of the ad-

vance payment acceptance.

This contract is the largest arms

trade transaction ever concluded be-

tween Israel and India.

In accordance with the con-

tract, the IAI company and Defence

Research and Development Orga ni-

sation (DRDO) of the Indian Minister

of Defence shall develop an air de-

fence/anti-missile system capable

of detecting and defeating enemy

aircraft, cruise missiles and surface-

to-surface missiles at a range of 70

to 80 km.

The Indian Air Force will induct

nine air defence missile battalion,

each battalion including two batter-

ies with the Barak surface-to-air mis-

sile launchers. Each battery will com-

prise the fire control centre, target

acquisition radar, and three launch-

ers with eight missiles in each.

The contract is a continuation

of the Barak-NG programme start-

ed in 2006 for the development

of the next-generation Barak ship-

borne surface-to-air missile (Israeli

designation — Barak-8).

First tests of the Barak MR-SAM

system are expected to take place

in three-year time. The system is ex-

pected to reach initial operational

capability in 2013.

The Barak is designed to replace

the Indian Air Force’s obsolete S-125

Pechora-1 air defence missile system.

The Indian Ministry of Defence ini-

tially considered an option of procur-

ing the Russian S-300 or US Raytheon

Patriot PAC-3 air defence missile sys-

tems but having made its own evalu-

Barak SAM on INS Viraat car-rier, 2004

Lockheed-Martin Patriot PAC-3 SAMLockheed-Martin Patriot PAC-3 SAM

MARKETS


ation, decided to develop the indig-

enous system.

Within the framework of this pro-

gramme India and Israel conclud-

ed a separate agreement on build-

ing a plant for air defence/anti-mis-

sile system components production

in Bihar. The agreement cost is esti-

mated at 240 million USD. The pro-

duction plant in Bihar shall be built

to design made by the Israeli IMI

company.

Israel. In August 2009, after a lengthy

evaluation period, the Indian Ministry

of Defence approved the contract for

the procurement of the Spyder new

mobile short-range air defence sys-

tems. It has outlined plans to procure

54 missile launchers worth 820 million

USD for three regiments.

The decision to purchase

the Israeli system was taken after

the indigenous Trishul and Akash

short-range air defence missile sys-

tems designed by the Defence


Organisation (DRDO) had not met

Army’s requirements.

The programme for procure-

ment of the Spyder systems (which

are planned for replacement

of the Soviet-made Osa-AKM and

Strela-10M air defence missile sys-

tems still in service) has been elab-

orated for several years. However,

the Indian Ministry of Defence has

been reluctant to endorse signing

of the contract because of a contin-

ued investigation of corruption cas-

es against two Israeli companies —

IAI and Rafael, related to the pro-

curement of the Barak-1 air de-

fence missile system worth 11.60 bil-

lion INR. Despite remaining suspi-

cions the Indian Government has

not blacklisted the Israeli compa-

nies and has continued implementa-

tion of joint projects that are vital for

the national security.

Thus, in late August 2008

the Defence Acquisitions Council en-

dorsed the signing up of an agree-

ment for the purchase of the Spyder

air defence missile system for

the Indian Air Force. The contract for

the delivery to the Indian Air Force

of 18 Spyder mobile air defence sys-

tems was signed with the Israeli

Rafael company on 1 September

2008. The total cost of the agree-

ment was 260.05 million USD

(about 11377,1875 billion INR). It was

planned that the Spyder deliveries

would begin in 2.5 years after sign-

ing the agreement and would be fin-

ished in four years.

The Spyder air defence missile

system is developed by a consor-

tium of two Israeli companies — IAI

and Rafael. It is a mobile all-weath-

er short-range surface-to-air mis-

sile system designed to detect and

destroy enemy aircraft, helicopters,

cruise missiles, unmanned aerial ve-

hicles, and precision-guided muni-

tions. The system can be deployed

to provide air defence of strategic

installations including military bas-

es, communication centres, nuclear

power stations, governmental build-

ings, etc.

The inclined ramp launchers

of the Spyder-SR air defence missile

system mounted on a 6x6-wheeled

chassis are designed to accommo-

date four missiles. The Spider am-

munition load includes the ground-

based version of the Derby medi-

um-range air-to-air active radar guid-

ed missile, and the Python-5 short-

range IR guided missile. The air de-

fence missile system can operate by

Barak-8 SAM

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 53

locking on target prior to or after

the missile launch with the employ-

ment of the fire-and-forget mode

or in-flight target data correction.

The system’s reaction time (from tar-

get acquisition to combat readiness

status) is 5 seconds.

A typical Spyder battalion con-

sists of one mobile command and

control post and four to six mobile

launchers with the Toplite electro-

optical sensors. The command and

control post is equipped with the IAI/

ELTA EL/M-2106 ATAR radar capable

of tracking 60 targets simultaneously

at a range of 35 km and two operator

panels with data transfer terminals

allowing data exchange with launch-

ers, adjacent air defence missiles sys-

tems, and superior commanders at a

range of up to 100 km.

The Spyder-SR air defence missile

system can kill targets within the all-

round (360 degrees) sector at a range

of one to 15 km and at altitudes from

20 to 9,000 m. The system is capable

of defeating both single and group

targets by day and night in any cli-

matic conditions.

INDIA’S INDIGENOUS

PROGRAMMES REALIZED IN 2009

Akash air defence missile system procure-

ment programme

In January 2009 the Indian Air

Force signed the contract with

the Bharat Electronics Ltd for the de-

livery of two battalions of the Akash

medium-range air defence missile

system developed by the Defence


Organisation (DRDO) of the Indian

Ministry of Defence. The contract

valued at 12 billion INR (247 million

USD) was signed 14 months after fin-

ishing tests.

The Air Force had been postpon-

ing the signing of the contract since

the Akash missile system did not

fully meet the given requirements.

The Air Force would like to have

more light and compact missile with

greater operational range and ma-

noeuvrability. The developers intend

to continue upgrading this air de-

fence missile system during its pro-

duction and operation to improve its

performance characteristics.

Under the initial contract two bat-

talions of the Akash air defence mis-

sile systems shall be delivered with-

in 36 months. It is expected that

in future the Indian Air Force will

place orders for additional quanti-

ties of the air defence missile system

for the substitution of Soviet-made

systems. The Indian Army intends

to procure the modified Akash sys-

tems as well.

The Defence Research and

Development Laboratory (DRDL)

started developing the Akash sur-

face-to-air missile in 1984 un-

der the Integrated Guided Missile

Development Program that em-

braced various types of missiles.

Initially 12 years were planned for

the system development but, in fact,

the works took more than 21 years.

The Indian developers remark that

this air defence missile system is in the

same class as the US Patriot and Israeli

Barak systems, but it is a substantial-

ly lower costing one. The Akash sur-

face-to-air missile powered by a solid-

propellant engine has length of 5.78

m, launch weight of more than 700

kg, and warhead weight of up to 60

kg. The missile can develop a 600-m/

s flight speed and engage single and

group targets flying at low and me-

dium altitudes at a range of 3 to 25

km. The single-shot kill probability for

the Akash missile is 85%.

Akash medium-range SAM

Spider-SR SAM on a 6x6 wheeled vehicleSpider-SR SAM on a 6x6 wheeled vehicle

MARKETS


The Akash air defence missile sys-

tem includes radars, mobile launch

units, command and control posts,

and other support systems. Missiles

can be mounted on tracked and

wheeled chassis. The system in-

cludes the Rajendra multifunction-

al phased array radar capable of au-

tonomously tracking 64 targets and

guiding up to 12 missiles.

The Akash system will be manu-

factured by a group of companies

under the management of Bharat

Electronics Ltd, the prime contractor

of the programme. The programme

implementation will involve 40 sub-

contractors in total.

Some foreign customers have al-

ready expressed their interest in pur-

chasing the Akash system, and for

that reason the DRDO has submit-

ted export clearance documents

to the Indian Ministry of Defence and

Foreign Ministry for endorsement. If

approved by the Government, India’s

defence industry will be capable

of both satisfying domestic needs

of the Indian armed forces for this air

defence missile system and the mis-

siles, and producing them on foreign

customers’ orders.

National anti-ballistic missile system de-

velopment programme

India’s anti-ballistic missile sys-

tem development programme has

made a serious headway in the last

two years. Its major achievements

include two successful launch-

es of the PAD anti-missiles derived

from the Prithvi short-range ballistic

missile (PAD — Prithvi Air Defence)

and AAD interceptor missile (AAD —

Advanced Air Defence) which will

make up the backbone of India's ad-

vanced anti-ballistic missile system.

In 2009 the Defence Research and


of the Indian Ministry of Defence

started testing the Swordfish long-

range tracking radar (LRTR). The LRTR

is planned to be a target acquisition

and fire control radar for the anti-

ballistic missile system being devel-

oped.

India’s national anti-ballistic mis-

sile is under development for several

years. Its main objective is to provide

detection and interception of ballis-

tic missiles both at exo-atmospher-

ic altitudes of 60 to 80 km and en-

do-atmospheric altitudes of 15 to 20

km. At the first stage the deployed

anti-ballistic missile system should

ensure protection of New Delhi and

Mumbai. The anti-ballistic missile

system will include long-range tar-

get acquisition radars, command and

control centres, and batteries with

interceptor missiles.

Missiles of two types are em-

ployed for interception: exo-atmo-

spheric PAD and endo-atmospher-

ic AAD missiles. The AAD missile will

ensure intercepts at the altitude of 15

to 30 km. The PAD-2 anti-missile with

the first-stage liquid-fuel booster

and second-stage solid-fuel engine

can attain flight speed of up to 4.5 —

5 Mach. The AAD anti-missile is a sin-

Prithvi II ballictic missile

Brahmos cruise missile

MARKETS

1(51).2010 ● 55

gle-stage missile. Its basic specifica-

tions are: length — 7.5 m, diameter —

0.5 m, weight — about 1.2 tonnes. It

employs inertial guidance in the ini-

tial trajectory and active radar guid-

ance in the terminal leg. Launch is

made from the launcher mounted

on the Tatra truck chassis with mis-

siles in transport-launch containers.

India’s national anti-ballistic mis-

sile system is expected to be de-

ployed in 2015 provided that the test

programme has been completed

successfully and no financial or man-

agerial problems have cropped up.

PROSPECTIVE PROJECTS

India is planning to devel-

op a laser anti-ballistic missile sys-

tem to protect the country’s terri-

tory against ballistic missile attacks.

This system should be capable of in-

tercepting and destroying missiles

at the ascending trajectory leg.

An air-based/sea-based laser an-

tiballistic missile system should be

able to destroy enemy ballistic mis-

siles in several seconds. The laser

interception system will provide

more time for the national anti-bal-

listic missile system to kill ballistic

missiles launched from the range

of 2,000 km.

Such technologies are being de-

veloped in several DRDO laborato-

ries, including the Laser and Science

Technology Centre (LASTEC). In par-

ticular, it develops an airborne laser

system similar to the US laser-based

ballistic missile defense system.

It is expected that development

of the system to a series production-

ready prototype capable of accom-

plishing anti-ballistic missile missions

will take 10 to 15 years. Such long

time for the project implementation

is needed since it must include de-

velopment not only of anti-missile la-

ser, but other equipment as well, in-

cluding target acquisition and track-

ing means and their integration into

a unique, smoothly functioning anti-

ballistic missile system.

MISSILES & ROCKETS

BRAHMOS CRUISE MISSILE

PROGRAMME

In 2009 main efforts

of the Russian-Indian joint venture

“Brahmos Aerospace” were focused

on testing the BrahMos, Block-II up-

graded cruise missile. On 30 July

2009 the Indian Army performed

No.4 test launch of the land-based

version of the BrahMos Block-II up-

graded supersonic cruise missile

in Pokhran test range in the western

part of Rajasthan Desert.

Initial tests of this modification

were held on 20 January 2009 but

failed. After the missile control sys-

tem algorithms had been updated

the repeated tests were successful-

ly conducted on 4 March. The de-

velopers reported that the missile

hit the target at a range of about

40 km with the acceptable accura-

cy. On 29 March 2009 the Indian

Armed Forces performed the third

test launch of the BrahMos Block-

II missile from a land-based mobile

autonomous vertical launcher, and

the missile scored a hit on the as-

signed target in a multitarget envi-

ronment at a range of 50 km.

Tests in July 2009 confirmed com-

pliance of the BrahMos Block-II mis-

sile featuring the improved guid-

ance system with the requirements

of the Indian Armed Forces, and its

preparedness for series production.

According to these requirements

the upgraded cruise missile must

be able to select and engage targets

in multitarget environment (within

a group of other targets) to increase

its target engagement capability

and reduce collateral damage.

The supersonic BrahMos cruise

missile development programme

was started in the middle of 1999

drawing on the Onyx II-800 mis-

sile design intended for under-

water launch. To realize this pro-

gramme, the joint venture (JV)

“BrahMos Aerospace Ltd” was es-

tablished by two co-founders: fed-

eral state unitary enterprise “NPO

Machinostroyenia” (Russia) and

DRDO (India). The first test launch-

es of the BrahMos cruise missile pro-

totype were performed at the test

range in Orissa state, India.

“BrahMos” is a two-stage cruise

missile with the following parame-

ters: length — 10 m, body diame-

ter — 0.7 m, launch weight (with con-

tainer) — 3.9 t, operational range —

up to 290 km, flight speed —

2.9 Mach. This cruise missile can car-

Brahmos anti-ship missile

MARKETS


ry a warhead weighing up to 300 kg.

Its performance allows it to fly at var-

ious altitudes from 10 m to 14 km at a

speed three times higher than that

of the US Tomahawk cruise missile.

At present BrahMos Aerospace

Ltd has finished the development

of several versions of its superson-

ic cruise missile. The land-based

and sea-based missile versions have

been successfully tested and induct-

ed into service by the Indian Army

and Navy. The airborne and subma-

rine-launched versions are under de-

velopment at the moment.

The Indian Army took delivery

of the first BrahMos LACM (land at-

tack cruise missile) battery in June

2007. The Indian Army plans to adopt

in the near future three BrahMos mis-

sile batteries, each containing four

mobile launchers based on the Tatra

12x12-wheel truck.

The Indian Navy retrofitted

with the BrahMos antiship mis-

siles several combatants, includ-

ing the Rajput destroyer and two

ships of the same type. There are

plans to install the BrahMos launch-

ers on three INS Project 1135.6 Talwar

frigates being under construction

at the Yantar shipyards (Kaliningrad,

Russia), and Calcutta destroyers that

will be build at Mazgon Dock ship-

yards in Mumbai.

On 18 December 2008 the Indian

Navy made first test launch of the su-

personic BrahMos cruise missile from

the INS Rajput type destroyer with

the ship-based vertical launcher.

Previously Indian Navy ships fired

missiles from inclined ramp launch-

ers. The vertical launcher used in the

tests was developed and manufac-

tured also by BrahMos Aerospace Ltd.

In contrast to inclined ramp

launchers, the vertical launcher al-

lows firing missiles in an all-round

360-degree sector. The canister-type

vertical launcher accommodates

eight missiles. Surface ships will be

fitted with two such combat mod-

ules. In future Indian Navy subma-

rines will be equipped with vertical

missile launchers.

In early January 2009, two Indian

Air Force Su-30MKI multi-role fight-

ers were ferried to Russia for up-

grading that would allow them

to launch an airborne version

of the BrahMos cruise missile. Flight

tests of the BrahMos supersonic mis-

sile air-launched version are planned

for completion by the end of 2012.

Testing of the airborne missile

version to be launched from the IAF

Su-30MKI fighter will be conducted

in parallel with BrahMos Aerospase

upgrading of a submarine-launched

version of the missile.

Russian and Indian engineers

are now engaged in integrating

the BrahMos cruise missile onboard

the Su-30MKI carrier-aircraft. BrahMos

Aerospace Ltd managed to decrease

weight of the airborne BrahMos mis-

sile to facilitate its integration with

the aircraft. The cruise missile’s weight

is now 2,550 kg, length — 8.3 m, and

body diameter — 0.67 m.

If missile integration onboard

the Su-30MKI aircraft platform is

successful, there are future plans

for a programme to retrofit with

the BrahMos cruise missiles the Su-

35 combat aircraft and a 5th gener-

ation advanced fighter to be jointly

developed by Russia and India.

In September 2008 Russia and

India revealed for the first time

their plans for joint development

of a new BrahMos-2 hypersonic mis-

sile. The missile is supposed to attain

maximum speed in the range from 5

to 7 Mach which makes its intercep-

tion practically impossible. BrahMos

Aerospace Ltd intends to complete

the BrahMos-2 hypersonic missile

development by 2013.

Upon completion of the devel-

opment programme, the BrahMos

cruise missile will become “a ver-

satile cruise missile” since it will be

adapted for launch from surface

ships, submarines, aircraft, land-

based silos, and mobile launchers.

In the next decade, the Indian

Armed Forces can purchase up

to 1,000 BrahMos missiles produced

in different versions. Presently there

are 14 countries listed as potential

buyers of the BrahMos missiles. Yet

final decision on what customers

can purchase the missiles will be tak-

en by the Indian and Russian govern-

ments. Until now no contracts for de-

livery of the BrahMos cruise missiles

to third counties have been signed.

It is caused, in particular, by India’s

intention to first arm its own Army,

Air Force and Navy with this weapon.

BrahMos Aerospace Ltd plans

to produce 50 to 100 missiles annual-

ly. During one decade the company

can manufacture up to 1,000 missiles

from which one half can be export-

ed. In general it intends to produce

not less than 2,000 BrahMos missiles

for different customers. At present

the Indian government has ordered

for its armed forces the BrahMos mis-

siles worth 2 billion USD.

Detailed review of the Indian

missile program can be found

in the article entitled “Missiles over

Hindustan”.

Brahmos ASM mobile launcher

Arms-2010-1

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