Indian Missile News And Discussion

[Arun_S]

[quote name='Shaurya' date='01 May 2012 - 02:56 AM' timestamp='1335820698' post='114771']

Arun, came here to say Hi to you and also a question.



Is Shourya's payload going to be nuclear, conventional, either or do not know?



Please shed some light. I am presuming K15 that would go into the Arihant is Nuclear only.

[/quote]

Sorry, I missed your post.



Just IMHO following assessment:

1. Since K15 will be first operation missile to carry the weight of 3rd leg of deterrence, its clear that it will carry deterrence role.
2. Shourya (land based) on the other hand is special breed, for the great value it brings to bear because it is a hypersonic glide vehicle (and does not need to fly ballistic), it does not need to notify anyone for test or excercise purpose (which is required for BM). Thus will likely be used with conventional warhead to allow caliberated escalation, without risking rapid escalation. And its max range ~1900 km. So useful to interdict Chinese depots in central China/east Tibet. As well as to keep ambitions of gulf nations in check (if need be).
3. As already reported, PAD was a stopgap and will be superceded. Similarly Prithvi for battlefield will be superceded by BrahMos and Shourys batteries for IA and IAF.
4. Land based deterrence will be delivered via BGRV/MaRV atop Agni-2Prime, A3, A5, A6 series.