What is MRSAM?

March 11, 2023

On March 7 this year, the Indian Navy conducted a successful test-firing of a Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) from INS Visakhapatnam, a frontline warship. The successful test-firing validated the capability to use the weapon as an anti-ship missile, demonstrating the Navy’s preparedness to safeguard its assets from attacks by adversary forces.

Who built MRSAM?

The MRSAM was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The missile was produced at Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL). The MRSAM technology is an important milestone for India’s indigenous defence industry and is expected to enhance India’s self-reliance in defence technology. The Army and Air Force use different variants of missiles.

What is MRSAM?

The missile can be used against any kind of airborne threat. This includes helicopters, combat jets, cruise missiles, aircraft, etc. It was jointly developed by India and Israel. It is a medium-range missile. Meaning, the range of the missile is between 1000 km and 3000 km. Most of the medium-range missiles developed by India including the MRSAM are theatre ballistic missiles. Agni, Prithvi, and Shaurya are all theatre ballistic missiles. Theatre ballistic missiles are those missiles that use projectile motion to hit a target and their range is less than 3,500 km.

BARAK-8 is the land-based configuration of MRSAM.

Technical details of MRSAM

It is a high-response and vertically launched missile. It was mainly developed for aerial targets. The weight of the missile is 275 kg. It uses a proximity fuse. The proximity fuse is a type of fuse that detonates an explosive device when the target is close by. It emits radio waves towards the target and detonates based on the waves reflected from the target. It can be controlled through radar and also through direct commands. Meaning, it can be operated remotely from a faraway distance and also from a ship at a close distance.

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