India To Get New Long-Range Missile For IAF Fighters

India’s ministry of defense is seeking information from vendors across the globe about the purchase of a new  long-range missile featuring a light warhead. 

According to the ministry’s request for information (RFI), the missile system will be fired from Indian Air Force (IAF) fighters.

“After successful integration, series modification is to be carried out,” the RFI says. “The missile should be light in weight, having a long range with reattack capability.”

The ministry also wants the missile to have precision-strike capability with low collateral damage. The RFI also asks vendors to clearly specify the type of warhead to be used.

“We want the missile to have day/night and adverse weather capability and it should be equipped with upgraded midcourse guidance,” a senior IAF official tells Aviation Week. “It should also have adequate anti-jamming features and the missile suspension should be electrically and mechanically compatible with the existing pylons of our fleet.” He refused to give any details on the numbers or the total procurement cost.

Along with the procurement of the missiles, the ministry also wants the vendor to establish a storage infrastructure. “This is mainly to conduct periodic tests, maintenance and repair of the missile and its systems from time to time,” the official says. “We will specify the locations once the procurement is given to a particular firm.”

As part of the package, the ministry wants a ground-based simulator to be provided by the vendor for training of aircrew.

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IAF To Get Long-Range Air To Air Missiles

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is scouting the global arms market for stand-off missiles for its modern fighter jets to shore up their capability to shoot down enemy aircraft beyond visual range, an officer said Monday.

The IAF has issued a request for information (RFI) to global manufacturers of stand-off missiles fitted with light warheads that are capable of hitting enemy planes without engaging them in close dogfights, the officer said here.

"Such missiles become very potent when linked with airborne early warning and control systems (AWACS) that provide inputs on enemy missiles and aircraft beyond visual range. We do possess AWACS and we can make best use of these missiles," the officer added.

The IAF, in its specifications for the missiles, has sought a high-accuracy, precision strike weapon to avoid collateral damage. With a guidance system for both its midcourse and terminal stages after being launched, the missile will be a day-and-night weapon with all-weather operational capability.

Stand-off missiles, which are fired from beyond visual range, allow the fighter jets to remain out of the offensive range of the enemy aircraft.

A ground-based training simulator along with multi-media training packages, dummy training missiles, captive training missile pods and storage-cum-maintenance infrastructure also form part of the system the IAF is searching for.

The IAF's MiG-29 and Sukhoi SU-30 combat jets already operate Russian-origin R-27 medium-to-long-range missiles and the R-77 medium range missiles. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is also developing an air-to-air missile, Astra, with a 100-km range.

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Indian Astra Air-to-Air Missile Test Fired

 

The Air-to-air Astra missile is likely to test- fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur. The test is reportedly scheduled for the next two days subject to weather conditions.

The active radar homing missile is envisaged to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft at supersonic speed in head-on mode, at a range of 80 km and in tail-chase mode at 20 km.

The smallest of the missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Astra is a single stage, solid-fuelled missile and can carry a conventional warhead of 15 kg. The Beyond Visual Range missile is 3.8 metre long and has a diameter of 178 mm with an overall launch weight of 160 kg. The missile could be launched from different altitudes - at 15 km to cover a range of 90-110 km, at 8 km to cover a range of 44 km and at sea-level for a range of 21 km.

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China Successfully Develops New-Generation Air To Air Missile

China has achieved what some foreign experts once thought was impossible — it has independently developed a next-generation air-to-air missile without assistance from foreign specialists or borrowed technology.

Designed by Fan Huitao, the deputy director of the Air-to-Air Missile Research Institute under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the missile, known as the "Key Model," successfully passed the designed type approval test and achieved an excellent result, with all seven missiles hitting their targets.

Its successful development indicates that China already fully possesses the ability to independently develop internationally-advanced air-to-air missiles. It is a historic breakthrough in China's air-to-air missile development and has met the Chinese Air Force's requirement for the model to be designed, produced, delivered and made combat effective within one year. The new missile offers the military and country another trump card.

The Key Model is an international-advanced AAM model. It is a secret weapon for gaining air superiority. It plays a crucial role in reinforcing the power of national defense and strengthening the influence of China.

However, it is very hard to develop and only a few developed countries around the world possess such a capability. The complicated system of the model and the high-grade, high-precision and advanced technologies needed to develop it has never been seen in the development of other models.

Foreign military experts once believed that employing foreign specialists as chief designers was the only way for China to succeed. Even some Chinese experts believed that the success rate of developing this kind of missile was not high when relying only on the current technical conditions of China. This was because China did not have any documents to refer to and could not use a shortcut.

The successful completion of the missile is the culmination of Fan Huitao's career in the aviation industry. After Fan graduated from Northwestern Poly-technical University with a major in aircraft engines in April 1986, he went to Luoyang and devoted himself to the field of air-to-air missiles.

In 2000, Fan took over as the chief model designer and began to lead a group in researching China's new-generation air-to-air missile. 

Source:By People's Daily Online

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Turkey Reveals Indigenously Developed Stand-OFF Missiles

Turkish Air Force (TurAF) has revealed two indigenously developed missile systems during the 100th year celebrations at the Cigli airbase in Turkey’s western province of Izmir. Celebrations consisted of public shows by the world’s leading air acrobatics teams, including the USAF Thunderbirds and Turkey’s own Turkish Stars, as well as various other events both on the ground and in the air.

Developed by TUBITAK-SAGE as a result of an ambitious project started in 2006, Turkey’s first indigenous stand-off missile is designed for destroying both fixed and large moving targets at a range of over 180 kilometers. Currently referred to by the TurAF as SOM, it can be used as a precision strike weapon against both land or sea targets. TUBITAK-SAGE officials who spoke at the Cigli airshow said that the initial demonstartion flights of the prototypes were completed successfully at undisclosed locations and the delivery of a first batch of missiles to TurAF would take place by the end of 2011 following more vigorous live firing tests scheduled for the rest of the year.

SOM missile uses GPS (Global Positioning System) as its primary mode of guidance complemented by an advanced intertial navigation system and a radar-based terrain contour matching system, dubbed TERCOM, allowing the missile to ‘hug’ the terrain during its flight as to avoid detection by radar. SOM also features improved geometry and aerodynamics over similar missile systems, as well as lightweight composite components that minimize the radar cross-section of the missile and turning it stealth. A terminal stage infrared imager recognizes the individual target by matching its signature with a pre-loaded database of similar targets and allows for precision homing and strike.

SOM can currently be installed and used aboard TurAF F-4 Phantom and F-16 aircraft.

“Certification work is in progress to enable the missile for use aboard the F-35,” a TUBITAK-SAGE official told on condition of anonymity. Turkey plans to procure an initial batch of 120 F-35 planes to replace its aging fleet of F-4 Phantoms and the older F-16 Block 30s.

Source: http://www.trdefence.com/?p=4812

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