List of India’s Missiles

January 11, 2016 January 11, 2016

In 1970s, the Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) undertook the Project Devil and Project Valiant. The Project Devil was aimed to produce short range surface-to-air missile. The project Valiant was aimed to produce long-range ballistic missile. Both Projects were considered failures. Project Valiant was terminated in 1974 and Project Devil ended in 1980.

Integrated Guided Missile Development Program

The Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) was launched in 1983 to develop five missile systems in the country viz. Trishul, Akash, Nag, Prithvi and Agni-I (intermediate-range surface-to-surface missile). In 1990s, the program was expanded to develop the long range Agni Missile, Sagarika (ballistic missile), Surya (medium-range version of the Agni ballistic missile) and Dhanush (naval version of the Prithvi). In 2008, the DRDO announced the successful completion of the program.

Trishul

It is a short-range surface-to-air missile developed by DRDO with an operational range of 9 km.

Akash

It is a medium-range surface-to-air missile designed by DRDO with a range of 30 km. It can reach an altitude of 18 km. It can be fired from both tracked and wheeled platforms.

Nag

It is a third-generation “fire and forget” anti-tank guided missile. NAG will be produced in two basic variants: land version and air launched version. Originally Nag would have been available with 3 types of guidance: a wire guided version, an infra-red version and a millimetric wave (mmW) active radar homing version. But DRDO failed to develop a wire guided system. The missile is launched from 3 platforms: NAMICA (NAG missile carrier), HAL Dhruv Helicopter and HAL Light Combat Helicopter. HELINA (HELIcopterNAg) is an advanced variant of NAG and is based on ‘lock-on after launch’ system extending its range to 7 km.

Prithvi Missile Series

Prithvi missiles are tactical short range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. There are 3 variants of it. Prithvi-I is an Army Version with 150km range and 1,000kg payload capacity. Prithvi-II is an Air Force Version with 250-350 km range and 500kg payload capacity. Prithvi-III is a Naval Version with 350km range and 1000kg payload capacity.

Agni missile series

Agni missile are medium to intercontinental range ballistic missiles.

Agni-I is a medium range (700 km to 1,200 km) missile with one stage.
Agni-II is an intermediate range (2,000 km to 2,500 km) missile with two stages.
Agni-III is an intermediate range (3,000 km to 5,000 km) missile with two stages.
Agni-IV is an intermediate range (2,500 km to 3,700 km) missile with two stages.
Agni-V is an intercontinental (5,000 km to 8,000 km) missile with three stages.
Agni-VI is an intercontinental (10,000 km to 12,000 km) missile with three stages.

The Agni-I, Agni-II, Agni-III and Agni-IV are in service with Indian Army. Agni-V is under testing. Agni-VI is under development.

K Missile Series

The K family of missiles is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). They are being developed to provide second-strike capabilities and thus the nuclear deterrence. There are three variants: K-15 (Sagarika), K-4 and K-5. K-15 has 750km range. K-4 missile has two sub-variants, one with 3,500km range and the other with 5,000km range. K-5 is under development with a range of 6,000km. The K family of missiles are used with nuclear powered Arihant class submarines.

Shaurya

It is a short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile developed for Indian Army. Its range is 700km and is capable of carrying a payload of one ton conventional or nuclear warhead.

BrahMos

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is designed and developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture of India and Russia. It is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against sea and land targets. It is capable of carrying a warhead of 300 kilogram and can be launched from ships, land and submarines. It has top supersonic speed of Mach 2.8. It can strike a target at maximum range of 290-km. It is two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant.

BrahMos II

It is a hypersonic cruise missile and it is the second of the BrahMos series of cruise missiles. It is expected to have a range of 290 km and a speed of Mach 7. It will be powered by a scramjet engine instead of a ramjet one.

Nirbhay

It is long range subsonic cruise missile. The low altitude flying missile can evade detection by radars by flying at tree top level. It can strike targets that are more than 700 km away also and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. It can also hover over targets, unlike other missile. It also has a “fire and forget” system which cannot be jammed by the enemy.

Prahaar

It is a solid fuelled surface-to-surface guided short-range ballistic missile. It would be equipped with omni-directional warheads and could be used for strike both tactical and strategic targets. Its operational range is 150km.

Astra

It is India’s first beyond–visual-range air-to-air missile designed and developed indigenously by DRDO. It is capable of attacking targets with varying range and altitudes allowing for engagement of both short-range targets (up to 20 km) and long-range targets (up to 80 km) using alternative propulsion modes. Its test flights are launched from Su-30Mki.

Barak-8

It is a long-range anti-air and anti-missile naval defence system jointly developed by India and Israel. It is a surface-to-air missile.

Anti-Radiation Missile

It is designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source.

Anti-Satellite Missile

It is under consideration for development.

Indian Ballistic Missile Defense Program

The program aims to develop and deploy a multi-layered ballistic missile defence system to protect from ballistic missile attacks. It is a double-tiered system consisting of the Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) missile for high altitude interception, and the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile for lower altitude interception.

Prithvi Air Defence (PAD)

It is an anti-ballistic missile developed to intercept incoming ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere (exo-atmospheric). PAD is a two-stage missile with a maximum interception altitude of 80 km.