Indian Missile News And Discussion

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[size="6"]Shaurya surfaces as India's underwater nuclear missile[/size]





The country’s top defence scientist has, for the first time, revealed

that India’s new Shaurya missile, which can carry a one-tonne nuclear

warhead over 750 kilometers, is specially designed to be fired from

Indian submarines and could form the crucial third leg of India’s

nuclear deterrent.





If launched from a submarine off the China coast, it could hit several

Chinese cities like Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai.



Air and land-based nuclear weapons are delivered to their targets by

fighter aircraft and ballistic missiles, respectively. Since these can

be knocked out by an enemy first strike, the most reliable nuclear

deterrent has traditionally been underwater, missiles hidden in a

submarine.



V K Saraswat, the DRDO chief and Scientific Advisor to the Defence

Minister, revealed to Business Standard at the ongoing Defexpo 2010,

“We have designed the Shaurya so that it can be launched from under

water as easily as from land. The gas-filled canister that houses the

missile fits easily into a submarine. The underwater leg of the

nuclear triad needs to be totally reliable and needs a state-of-the-

art missile.”



India’s undersea deterrent had so far revolved around the K-15

ballistic missile, built with significant help from Russia. The K-15

was to equip the INS Arihant, India’s lone nuclear-powered submarine,

which is being constructed in Visakhapatnam. But now, after rigorous

underwater testing, the Shaurya could be the mainstay of Arihant’s

arsenal.





“The Shaurya was developed from ground up as a submarine-capable

missile,” confirms Dr Prahlada, the top DRDO scientist responsible for

liaising with the military. “Every piece of technology for fitting it

in a submarine is already in place.”



Shortly before the Defexpo 2010, Dr Saraswat had publicly stated that

India’s missile technology was ahead of China’s and Pakistan’s.

Now top DRDO scientists have revealed that the Shaurya is not a

ballistic missile, as it has been thought to be; it is actually a

hypersonic cruise missile, which never leaves the atmosphere.



A ballistic missile is like a stone being lobbed towards a target.

Rockets toss it upwards and towards the target; after the rocket burns

out, gravity pulls the missile warhead down towards the target.

Buffeted by wind and re-entry forces, accuracy is a problem; and,

since the ballistic missile’s path is predictable, shooting it down is

relatively easy.



The Shaurya has none of these issues. Its solid-fuel, two-stage rocket

accelerates the missile to six times the speed of sound before it

reaches an altitude of 40 kilometers (125,000 feet), after which it

levels out and cruises towards the target, powered by its onboard

fuel.



While ballistic missiles cannot correct their course midway, the

Shaurya is an intelligent missile. Onboard navigation computers kick

in near the target, guiding the missile to the target and eliminating

errors that inevitably creep in during its turbulent journey.

The Shaurya, say DRDO sources, will strike within 20-30 metres of its

target after travelling 750 kilometres.



Conventional cruise missiles, like the American Tomahawk and the Indo-

Russian Brahmos, offer similar accuracy. But their air-breathing

engines carry them along slowly, rendering them vulnerable to enemy

aircraft and missiles. The Shaurya’s solid-fuel, air-independent

engine propels it along at hypersonic speeds, leaving enemy fighters

and missiles far behind.



“I would say the Shaurya is a hybrid propulsion missile”, says Dr

Saraswat. “Like a ballistic missile, it is powered by solid fuel. And,

like a cruise missile, it can guide itself right up to the target.”

Making the Shaurya even more capable is its ability to manoeuvre,

following a twisting path to the target that makes it very difficult

to shoot it down. In contrast, a ballistic missile is predictable; its

trajectory gives away its target and its path to it.