India develops indigenous attack, defence systems

New Delhi: India in the recent past has developed several indigenous missiles, attack and defence systems to counter threats from China, Pakistan and other such countries.

India’s indigenously developed surface-to-air missile Akash is one of the most marvelling missiles in India’s attack and defence system. The missile developed by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) is capable of targeting aircraft up to 30 km away and at an altitude of 18,000 metres and neutralise aerial targets like fighter jets, cruise missiles, air-to-surface missiles and even ballistic missiles. At the heart of the missile is the Indian Rajendra PESA radar system which is used for 3D target detection, multi-target tracking and to launch multiple guided missiles even in extremely hostile environments. Akash can fly at twice the speed of sound and can maintain the speed at all altitudes. The missile system is designed in such a way that it can be manoeuvred at all altitudes and speeds.

Another feather in the Indian defence artillery section is the indigenously developed Indian Ballistic Missile Defence System. This has been primarily developed by India to intercept and thwart a ballistic missile threat from China and Pakistan.

The Ballistic Missile Defence System is a double-tiered system—one being Prithvi Air Defence Missile, which helps India to intercept any airborne missile from as far as 5,000 km away, while the second Advance Air Defence is a lower altitude interceptor missile which can intercept an incoming missile from as low as 30 km and destroy it. India is part of the elite club that has the missile guarding system and apart from India, only the United States, Russia and Israel has such a system in place.

BrahMos is also one of the finest supersonic cruise missiles that India has. The versatility of this missile makes it capable of launching it from a submarine, ship, aircraft or from land. This missile has been developed under a joint venture between the Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India’s DRDO. It is the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile that is in operation currently. India is also working on developing BrahMos II which will further increase India’s aerial strike capacity in the coming times.

India has also been able to successfully develop a 5,500 km long range missile called Agni 5, that is capable of carrying 1,500 kg of conventional or nuclear warhead. This missile developed by the DRDO is a guided long-range missile having a Ring laser gyroscope and an inertial navigation system. It has attained single digit accuracy despite travelling at a very high speed. The missile has been designed in such a way that it can be carried by road or rail.

India has also recently inducted the indigenously developed light combat aircraft Tejas into its fleet of fighter aircraft. Tejas is a 4th generation light weight combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The aircraft is capable of firing air-to-air missiles both within the visual range and even beyond the visual range. It also has the capability to fire air-to-ground guided missiles and bombs.

Apart from these, the Indian army has also developed indigenous tanks, such as the Arjun Mark II tank which is one of the most outstanding and advanced tanks available with India. The DRDO has also developed a multiple rocket launcher for the Indian army called Pinaka having a range of 40 to 65 km.

This rocket launcher can fire 12 rockets in just 44 seconds destroying a target of over 3.2 sq km.