Know All About India’s First Anti Radiation Missile Rudram-I — TextBooq

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test-fired India’s first-ever New Generation Anti Radiation Missile (NGARM) RudraM-I on 9th October 2020. Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft was used to test-fire Rudram-I from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha. Here, the article will guide to Know all about India’s First Anti Radiation Missile Rudram-I.

Rudram is a Sanskrit word which means “ remover of sorrows “.

What is an Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM)?

Anti-Radiation Missiles are designed to detect, track, and neutralize the radiation emitting sources i.e. enemy radar system, radio communication sites, tracking system and neutralize the enemy’s frequency jamming system. Anti-Radiation Missiles basically neutralizes the adversary’s air defense system.

Features of an Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM)

1. ARM is mainly meant for the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) that can target the enemy from a range of altitudes.
2. ARM has an Inertial Navigation System which gives it a satellite-based absolute drift-free position of enemy to target.
3. It has passive homing head (PHH) for the final attack as PHH can detect targets over a wide band of frequencies.

Development of Rudram-I

Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) is the nodal agency behind the design and development of the anti-radiation missile system along with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as other key agencies.

• It is an Air to Surface missile.
• It is designed with Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) capability
• Weight: 140kg
• Length: 5.5m (18 ft)
• It has dual-pulsed rocket motor engine

Know about Dual Pulsed Rocket Motor Engine

A pulsed rocket motor engine is a multiple pulse solid-fuel rocket motor engine which enables to overcome the limitation of solid propellant motors which cannot be easily shut down and reignited. This technology was acquired by DRDO from Israel. Israel helped India through the transfer of technology during the Barak-8 missile development. Now DRDO has mastered Dual Pulsed Rocket Motor Engine.

• Operational range is up to 200 km depending upon launching condition
• It can hit the target with pinpoint accuracy
• It has Inertial navigation system (INS) with NAVIC satellite guidance to locate enemy

NAVIC stands for Navigation with Indian Constellation. It is the Indian Navigation system that operates based on data of satellite networks, controlled and monitored by ISRO.

Note

Only five countries have their own navigation system

• It can be launched from a range of altitudes of 500m to 15km with a range of speeds of 0.6 Mach to 2 Mach
• Right now it is tested with Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft, but the missile can be adapted and used in other fighter aircraft like Dassault Mirage 2000, Tejas, Tejas Mk 2, Rafale, etc.

Why is this ARM Rudram-I so special?

• The Rudram-I has on-board passive homing head (PHP) armed with broadband capability, a system that can detect, classify, and engage targets over a wide band of frequencies. PHH operates with the D-J band which makes it capable to detect radio frequency emission from 100km away. Once the Rudram missile locks on the target, it is capable of striking the target with pin-point accuracy even if the radiation source switched off in between.
• The missile is being compared to the air-to-surface missile AGM-88E or Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile that was inducted by the US Navy in 2017 as it has the capability to strike on relocatable Integrated Air Defence targets even after shutdown.

What’s next?

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is working to install new software upgradations to track and neutralize a larger variety of targets under various operational conditions. DRDO is also working to develop a ground-based variant of existing ARM to be launched from a mobile launcher.

Which countries other than India do have Anti-Radiation Missile?

• Russia uses AMR Kh-31
• YJ-91 Chinese AMR based on Kh-31
• AGM-88 HARM US anti-radiation missile
• ALARM RUAKI I British ARM with loiter capability
• Brazilian MAR-I

Significance of Rudram-I in Indian Air Force

• Rudram has been developed to enhance its Suppression of Enemy’s Air Defence (SEAD) strength,
  neutralizing or disrupting the operations of the adversary’s early warning radars, command and control systems, surveillance systems that use radio frequencies and give inputs for anti-aircraft weaponry, can be very crucial.
• Modern-day warfare is way-more network-centric. The defense mechanism is based on detection, surveillance, and communication systems that are integrated with the weapons systems.
• It is to be noted that India is heavily dependent on either USA or Russia for acquiring defense equipment, but instead, India is pushing hard for the indigenously-built weapons. It is a clear shift towards being independent in weapon development.
• Rudram-I could be a key role-player during the India-China border dispute. China already posses HQ-9 Air defense System which is a Chinese version of the Russian S-300. China also has the Russian S-400 Missile Defense System. It is to be noted that China has deployed a series of Air defense Systems along with some unmanned radar stations at the border of Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh region.
• Rudram-I is considered as the perfect complementary development of the Indian weapon system. Brahmos Missile already tested with Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft. So, the Indian Air Force now capable to detect and neutralize the enemy’s missile defense system with Rudram-I which could be followed by the destruction of the same by Brahmos Missile. In a nutshell, Rudram-I will emerge as a game-changer for India in the current unstable geopolitical scenario in Asian Continent as well as on a global scale.

Conclusion

Rudram-I is definitely going to boost the air-dominance capabilities of the Indian Air force. The development will also accelerate further research and development on the up-gradation of the existing missile system. Thus India will be emerging as a regional superpower in the weapon development field. Hence, it will reduce India’s dependence on the USA and Russia for missile and other weapon systems which in turn will be reflected in recovering the current account deficit in the long run.

The article will give a comprehensive guide on Know All About India’s First Anti Radiation Missile Rudram-I

Originally published at https://www.textbooq.in on October 13, 2020.