Quote:Stopping ballistic missile



The deployment of India's planned ballistic missile shield is to start in two years' time. The Defence Research and Development Organisation, which is developing and testing the complex system, intends to roll it out in two phases and have all of it up and running by 2016. The first phase will deal with missiles having a range of less than 2,000 km, and the second will tackle missiles with a longer range. The latter will be travelling much faster than the former and are therefore less easily targeted. There will be interceptors to destroy the incoming missiles at heights of over 50 km as well as much closer to the ground. Such a tiered defence is intended to boost the chances of knocking out an incoming missile before it hits the target. The problems encountered with a Prithvi missile simulating an enemy attack in a recent test is not likely to be a serious setback to these plans. India is not the only country that seeks to protect its citizens from enemy missiles carrying nuclear and other lethal warheads. The United States has been developing anti-ballistic missile systems for over 60 years. Its highly ambitious missile shield aims to destroy ballistic missiles during all stages of their flight. In February 2010, the U.S. successfully tested an airborne laser carried aloft on a modified Boeing 747, which was used to destroy a missile less than two minutes after it was fired. Israel, Japan, and the Taiwan regime too intend to establish missile defence capabilities. China, which demonstrated its anti-satellite capability in 2007, successfully conducted a mid-course missile interception test in January this year. Russia has a system of its own that was developed during the Cold War.



A big unanswered question is how effective any of these missile shields, including the Indian one, will be in an actual conflict situation, especially if it is between nuclear-armed nations. The technical evaluation of the U.S. system carried out by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000 is instructive. It found that there were a range of countermeasures an attacker could take to “confuse, overwhelm or otherwise defeat the defence.” Any country capable of deploying a long-range missile would be able to use them. Decoys could overload a defensive system and allow attacking missiles to slip past. Besides, even the U.S. system is intended to be effective against only a “limited ballistic missile attack.” The Indian defensive shield too will have similar limitations: if a single nuclear-tipped missile gets through, the consequences will be calamitous. This country would do better to rely on diplomacy, rather than a chancy missile shield, to increase its security.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/27/05hdline.htm

Quote:[url="http://www.kalingatimes.com/odisha_news/news2010/20100327_Prithvi-II_Dhanush_missiles_test_fired_successfully.htm#"][/url] By Sibdas Kundu

Balasore (Odisha), Mar 27: India successfully flight-tested indigenously developed surface to surface missile Prithvi-II and ship launched Dhanush missiles in SALVO Mode at about 05.30 AM today.



Dhanush missile was launched first from a Naval ship at 05.30 AM and Prithvi-II was launched few minutes later from LC-III complex at Integrated Test Range , Chandipur, according SC Dash, Director of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near here.



Both the missiles are under production after successfully completion of development trials and have been inducted into the Armed Forces.



Both the missiles were flight tested by Armed Forces almost simultaneously as part of the regular training exercise, Dash said in an official release soon after the successful launch of the two missiles.



The trajectory of both the missiles were monitored by a widespread tracking network consisting of Radars, Telemetry and Electro-optical systems spread over land and sea.



Both were text book launches and met all the mission objectives. The entire mission sequencing events occurred as expected. Advanced navigation and guidance systems were flight tested in this exercise, according to the ITR Director.



The launches were carried out by Armed Forces and DRDO scientists have only overseen the operations.



VK Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and Director General of Defence Research and Resaerch Organisation was present during the mission.



P Venugopalan, Director DRDL, SK Ray, Director RCI, Avinash Chander, Director ASL, VLN Rao, Programme Director and SP Dash, Director ITR were also present during the mission.



According to sources, Agni missile was also likely to be test-fired on Sunday morning as part of DRDO's ongoing mega mission `[size="4"]Sankalp[/size]'.

Quote:AGENCIES, Mar 27, 2010, 07.47am IST <a href="http://netspiderads2.indiatimes.com/ads.dll/clickthrough?slotid=36459" target="_blank"><img src="http://netspiderads2.indiatimes.com/ads.dll/photoserv?slotid=36459" border="0" width="660" height="65" alt="Advertisement"></a> BHUBANESWAR: India early Saturday successfully tested two nuclear capable missiles Dhanush and Prithvi II in Orissa, official said.



"Both the missiles were successfully launched at the same time at 5.30 hours," SP Dash, director of the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in Balasore district, told IANS.



While Prithvi II surface to surface ballistic missile with a range of 350 km was launched from Chandipur, some 230 kms from state capital Bhubaneswar, Dhanush, a naval version of Prithvi with the same range was launched from a naval ship off Orissa coast.



The test firing of Prithvi, the short-range, surface-to-surface ballistic missile, which has already been inducted into the armed forces, was a user trial by the Indian army. The sleek missile is "handled by the strategic force command", the defence sources said.



Prithvi, the first ballistic missile developed under the country's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), has the capability to carry 500 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engine.



It uses an advanced inertial guidance system with maneuvering trajectory and reaches the targets with few meter accuracy. It has a length of 9 meters with 1 metre diameter.



The entire trajectory of today's trial was tracked down by a battery of sophisticated radars and an electro-optic telemetry stations were positioned in different locations for post-launch analysis, they said.

Quote:[url="http://www.ndtv.com/news/search/results.php?cfeed=tw%3BSU%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.ndtv.com%3BLC%3A%23003399%3BVC%3A%23008000%3BDC%3A%23999999%3BTB%3A0%3BPBG%3A1%3BGP%3A0%3B%3BRBG%3A%23DCDCDC&hl=en&q=Press%20Trust%20of%20India&site=ndtv.com"]Press Trust of India[/url], Saturday March 27, 2010, Balasore, Orissa



Dhanush and Prithvi-II missiles both nuclear-capable were successfully test fired off Orissa coast on Saturday early morning by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.



Dhanush was test fired from a naval ship off Orissa coast.



'Prithvi-II' ballistic missile, which has a maximum range of 295 km, was test fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore, Orissa.



The indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile was test fired at around 0548 hours from a mobile launcher from the ITR launch complex-3, defence sources said.



The test firing of the short-range, surface-to-surface ballistic missile, which has already been inducted into the armed forces, was a user trial by the Indian Army. The sleek missile is "handled by the strategic force command", the sources said.



Prithvi, the first ballistic missile developed under the country's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), has the capability to carry 500 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engine.



It uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory and can reach the target with few meter accuracy. It has a length of 9 meters with 1 metre diameter.



The entire trajectory of Saturday's trial was tracked down by a battery of sophisticated radars and an electro-optic telemetry stations were positioned in different locations for post-launch analysis, they said.



A naval ship had been anchored near the impact point in the down range of Bay of Bengal and Long-Range Tracking Radar (LRTR) as well as a Multi-Function Tracking Radar (MFTR) had been deployed to track the missile's trajectory.



Dhanush missile was fired from INS-Subhadra in the Bay of Bengal near Puri by Indian Navy personnel as part of user training exercise, Defence sources said.



The nuclear-capable 'Dhanush', a naval version of 'Prithvi', was test-fired at 0544 hours, they said.



The missile followed the pre-designated trajectory with text-book precision and two naval ships located near the target have tracked the splash, the sources said.



According to the sources, the 350-km range missile will give Indian navy the capability to launch a missile on enemy's targets with great precisions.



The sophisticated radar systems located along the coast monitored today's entire trajectory of the vehicle, added the source.



The single stage missile is powered by liquid propellants. It is 10-metre long and weighs six tonnes. It has one metre diameter and can carry 500 kg warhead.

Quote:Balasore(Orissa), Mar 27 (PTI) India today successfully test fired its ship-based ballistic missile 'Dhanush', with a range of 350 km, from a naval vessel off the Orissa coast.



The missile was fired from INS-Subhadra in the Bay of Bengal near Puri by Indian Navy personnel as part of user training exercise, Defence sources said.



The nuclear-capable 'Dhanush', a naval version of 'Prithvi', was test-fired at 0544 hours, they said.



The missile followed the pre-designated trajectory with text-book precision and two naval ships located near the target have tracked the splash, the sources said.



According to the sources, the 350-km range missile will give Indian navy the capability to launch a missile on enemy's targets with great precisions.



The sophisticated radar systems located along the coast monitored today's entire trajectory of the vehicle, added the source.



The single stage missile is powered by liquid propellants. It is 10-metre long and weighs six tonnes.

Quote:Balasore (Orissa), Mar 27 (PTI) 'Prithvi-II' ballistic missile, which has a maximum range of 295 km, was successfully test fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 15 km from here, off the Orissa coast early today.



The indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile was test fired at around 0548 hours from a mobile launcher from the ITR launch complex-3, defence sources said.



The test firing of the short-range, surface-to-surface ballistic missile, which has already been inducted into the armed forces, was a user trial by the Indian army. The sleek missile is "handled by the strategic force command", the sources said.



Prithvi, the first ballistic missile developed under the country's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), has the capability to carry 500 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engine.



It uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory and reach the targets with few meter accuracy.

Quote:Y. Mallikarjun In the third consecutive success in two days, nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-I ballistic missile with a range of 700 km was successfully flight-tested from the Wheeler’s Island off the Orissa coast on Sunday.



The test carried out by Strategic Forces Command personnel met all the mission objectives and was one of the best-ever launches, according to officials of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).



The missile which was blasted off at 1.07 hrs from a mobile launcher was tracked by all the radars along the coast and two ships as it splashed down towards the pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal with precision and accuracy after a [color="#0000ff"]500-second flight[/color]. A specialised navigation and guidance system enabled the missile to close in on the target with a high degree of accuracy.



The 14-metre tall Agni-I is a single-stage, solid propelled weapon system. It has a one metre diameter and is capable of carrying a payload of 1,000 kg.



The Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Director-General, DRDO, V.K. Saraswat, Director, Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), P.Venugopalan, Director, Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Avinash Chander and other top DRDO scientists were present.



On Saturday, ship-launched Dhanush and surface-to-surface Prithvi-II were successfully test-fired in salvo mode from two locations off the Orissa coast. Both the missiles achieved their full range and conformed to the mission’s parameters.



T+  Â·   T- In the third consecutive success in two days, nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-I ballistic missile with a range of 700 km was successfully flight-tested from the Wheeler’s Island off the Orissa coast on Sunday.



The test carried out by Strategic Forces Command personnel met all the mission objectives and was one of the best-ever launches, according to officials of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).



The missile which was blasted off at 1.07 hrs from a mobile launcher was tracked by all the radars along the coast and two ships as it splashed down towards the pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal with precision and accuracy after a 500-second flight. A specialised navigation and guidance system enabled the missile to close in on the target with a high degree of accuracy.



The 14-metre tall Agni-I is a single-stage, solid propelled weapon system. It has a one metre diameter and is capable of carrying a payload of 1,000 kg.



The Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Director-General, DRDO, V.K. Saraswat, Director, Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), P.Venugopalan, Director, Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Avinash Chander and other top DRDO scientists were present.



On Saturday, ship-launched Dhanush and surface-to-surface Prithvi-II were successfully test-fired in salvo mode from two locations off the Orissa coast. Both the missiles achieved their full range and conformed to the mission’s parameters.

Quote:Y. Mallikarjun

HYDERABAD:In a hat-trick for missile technologists and the armed forces in the last two days, Agni-I, which can carry nuclear weapons and has range of 700 km, was flight-tested successfully from the Wheeler's Island, off the Orissa coast, on Sunday.



The ship-based Dhanush and Prithvi-II were test-fired in a salvo mode on Saturday.



The medium range surface-to-surface Agni-I, fired at 1.07 hours from a mobile launcher, homed in on the target within a few metres of accuracy as it splashed down in the Bay of Bengal.



The launch was carried out by Army personnel as part of a training exercise.



Best-ever launch



Describing it as one of the best-ever launches, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials said the specialised navigation and guidance system enabled the missile to reach the target with a high degree of accuracy after a 500-second flight duration.



During the course of the flight, it reached an altitude of 300 km and re-entered the atmosphere, withstanding high temperatures of more than 2,000 degree Celsius, as specially-developed heat shields provided protection to the electronic components and the payload.



The radars and electro-optical tracking system along the coast monitored the missile's path and trajectory-related parameters in real time.



Two down-range naval ships, about 700 km from the Wheeler's Island, tracked the missile reaching the target.



Features



The 14-metre tall Agni-I is a single stage, solid-propelled weapon system. It can carry a payload of 1,000 kg.



It is equipped with features to defeat the enemy's anti-ballistic missile system.



The Agni series of missiles form the mainstay of India's nuclear deterrence programme.



The launch operations were monitored by Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and DRDO Director-General V.K. Saraswat, Programme Director (Agni) and Director of the Advanced Systems Laboratory Avinash Chander, Director of the Research Centre (Imarat) S.K. Ray, and Director of the Defence Research and Defence Laboratory P. Venugopalan.



Dr. Saraswat congratulated the Army and DRDO teams for the successful launch.

Quote:Debabrata Mohanty Posted online: Monday , Mar 29, 2010 at 0141 hrs Bhubaneswar : India on Sunday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed, nuclear-capable, short range ballistic missile (SRBM) Agni-1 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island on Bay of Bengal, about 70 km across the sea Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district of Orissa. The test-firing was done by personnel of the Strategic Forces Command as part of Indian Army’s user-training exercise at 1.07 pm from a mobile launcher.



The missile, which has a range of 700 km, covered a distance of 633 km and reached an altitude of more than 300 km, said a senior official of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). The highly-specialised navigational system of the missile ensured that it hit the target after a 500-second flight, said the official. Two naval ships at the target point witnessed the missile hit the target.



The single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, is 14 metres tall and weighs 12 tonnes. It can carry payloads weighing up to 1,000 kg.



Agni-I is designed to bridge the gap between indigenously built short-range Prithvi, already deployed in the Army, and medium-range Agni-II, that has a range of more than 2,000 km.



DRDO and operational strategic units of Army and naval forces jointly conducted Sunday’s operation.



On Saturday, the Strategic Forces Command had successfully tested nuclear-capable, ship-based Dhanush and surface-to-surface Prithvi-II in quick succession from INS Subhadra and ITR, Chandipur respectively.

Quote:Subhashish Mohanty / DNA Monday, March 29, 2010 0:13 IST onday, March 29, 2010



Bhubaneswar: India successfully carried out the flight test of indigenously developed nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni-1 at 1.05 pm from Wheeler Island in Orissa on Sunday. It has a range of 700 km.



The missile was equipped with a new navigational technology which helps it to home on to the target. During the test-launch, the weapon system achieved a precision-hit after reaching a height of 300 km, defence sources said in New Delhi.



Senior army officials and scientists were present during the test. “The mission was successful and met all objectives,” SP Dash, director, interim test range (ITR) at Chandipur, said.



Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists monitored its trajectory path by a network consisting of radars, telemetry and electro-optical systems spread over land and sea.



Powered by solid propellants, the single-stage missile blasted off a mobile launcher mounted on rails. The missile’s dummy warhead later struck the waters of the Bay of Bengal, DRDO scientists said.



The user of the missile, the Strategic Force Command of the army, executed the operation with the necessary logistic support being provided by DRDO. The test was part of a mega mission called Sankalp. More tests are likely soon. The 12-tonne and 15-mt-high Agni-1 can carry payloads of one tonne. It has already been inducted into the army.



DRDO had, on Saturday, successfully test-fired the Prithivi-II and its naval version Dhanush. While Prithvi-II was test-fired from a mobile launcher in the ITR, Dhanush was test-fired from INS Subhadra, about 50 nautical miles from Puri.



Prithvi-II has a range of 295 km while Dhanush can cruise up to 350 km.

Quote:[left]New Delhi, March 28: The military’s Strategic Forces Command began exercising its missile regiments, test- firing the 700km-range Agni I today within a day of testing the 250km-range Prithvi II and the ship-launched Dhanush.[/left]

[left]The Strategic Forces Command functions under the Nuclear Command Authority that is headed by the Prime Minister.[/left]

[left]“The tests are examining the mutual coordination among the missile regiments under the Strategic Forces Command,” a defence ministry source said today, explaining the simultaneous tests.[/left]

[left]The Agni I tested today was launched from the Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island, about 100km off the Orissa coast, shortly after 1pm by a missile regiment of the army. Senior officials of the defence ministry and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) were present. [/left]

[left]The short-range ballistic missile “met all parameters”, a DRDO officer said. [/left]

[left]The Strategic Forces Command was validating a specialised navigation system of the Agni I that ensures that it strikes “[color="#0000ff"]within metres of the target[/color]”, the official said.[/left]

[left]The army fired the single-stage missile from a launcher that moves on railway tracks (rail-mobile). The Agni I is capable of carrying a payload (warhead) of 1,000kg. DRDO officials said it was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, just as the Prithvi II and the Dhanush. For today’s test, the Agni I had a “dummy” warhead.[/left]

[left]This month has seen the missile regiments being reinforced. Last week, the army signed a contract totalling over Rs 8,000 crore to raise two regiments of the Brahmos Mark II supersonic cruise missile. [/left]

Quote:[b][url="http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/swarajthapa/"]Swaraj Thapa[/url] , [url="http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/manu_pubby/"]Manu Pubby[/url] [/b]

Mar 30, 2010 at 0143 hrs

New Delhi:

Aiming to provide the country’s defence with an extra edge, the government last week inked a Rs 11,600-crore agreement that will pave the way for formal induction of the Brahmos missile into the Indian Air Force (IAF), besides giving two more regiments of the supersonic land attack system to the Army. While the missile is already in service with the Navy and Army, this is the first time that a surface-to-surface version of the missile will be inducted into the IAF. This will give the IAF a cutting edge over adversaries in the region and will arm it with the capability of taking out enemy radars and other air defence installations without even sending fighters across the border.



Top sources said the multi-crore agreement with Brahmos Aerospace, a joint venture between the DRDO and Russian company, would enable factory production of advanced versions of the cruise missile that can be launched from aircraft, submarines, ships and land. Capable of attaining speeds between 2.5 and 2.8 mach, Brahmos missiles have a range of about 290 kilometres. “In the next couple of years, we will have different versions of the Brahmos in all the three services,” sources said.



Last week’s contract for the IAF is in addition to another project to develop a smaller version of the missile for the SU 30 MKI fighter for a land attack role. After the Prithvi missile, this will be the second land attack missile in the IAF’s arsenal. While the primary user of the surface-to-surface version of the missile is the Army — two additional regiments for the land force were cleared last week — it also has a unique role for the IAF. “The Air Force felt the need to have a precision land attack missile to take down specific targets,” an official said. The initial order is likely to be for one squadron of the missiles followed by more.



Significantly, the IAF has ordered the Block II advanced version which can home in on a particular land target amongst a group of similar targets, making it the only supersonic cruise missile with such precise strike capabilities.