RudraM Series Air-launched Missiles : Updates & Discussions
- Thread starter Ashwin
- Start date
The defexpo poster showed time of flight at 400 sec, here poster showed 300 sec.
Satellites with GMTI capability shall revolutionize SEAD/DEAD as time goes. With proper and accurate coordinates, passive/active ARMs like RudraM-1 will bring the pain to the enemy.
SEAD/DEAD success or failure also depends upon the strategic depth of the enemy. In our case, Pakistan is severely hampered by it. China definitely has it, but achieving DEAD against China is way beyond the scope of F-35 or Rafale. May B-21 can do it, who knows
@RASALGHUL
The future is now bro and it ain't in Gotham city rather in
I suspect NGARM will remain a TD or only a small procurement.
Just for the use purpose it is much convenient to send a harrop now for sead/dead mission in the same range envelope than a jet for probing enemy hidden AD.
it is not A2A and it seems IAF like to destroy awacs before it can get airborne.
We need R1 to replace the ageing Kh-31P in IAF service. Afaik we have fairly large stocks of those. R2/3 will take more time to be ready.
Nope. We need it in large numbers to saturate enemy IADS. Drones could be thwarted by EW/DEW but something like RudraM-1 can't. I already explained before why NGARM is NOT only a SEAD weapon but infact a proper DEAD weapon thanks to its guidance and active-passive seeker. Only a matter of time before we mass induct all RudraM series missiles.
Yes, our induction process is very long and tiresome but people need to understand that it indeed is the secret behind all our weapons performing flawlessly in exreme/war conditions.
Since the retirement of the Canberra, the IAF has lacked a dedicated Wild Weasel/EW jet to clear the path for strike packages. It could've made a difference during Op Sindoor.
Imo some MKI UPG airframes should ideally be wired for a standoff jammer package + R-series ARMs for the task. Could even be derived from the A319 SIGINT/COMJAM prog the DRDO is already working on.
I can imagine a very very long range BVRAAM of the same dimension as NGARM.... In league of or even better than R-37M, AIM 174B
It makes little sense to bait a fighter jet for a sead mission when there are credible alternatives, I think IAF also have this view and hence NGARM is fit as TD to prove tech for the deliverables like R2 and R3. The short/medium range sead missions will be done via unmanned systems CATS variants, air launched LM variants there are plenty of scope.
Basically NGARM in its mission got multiple modes, you vary the engagement speed accordingly and the missile work in various ranges, 200km max when speed is low and 100-120km when quick engagement 2.2 mach speed. Hence its speed is variable at 0.8 mach to 2.2 mach for various range engagements.
First is target detection , you either detect the enemy radar asset via other means (drone/sat image/ground intel) or do it in a very risky direct probing mission on a jet. Either way you acquire the target and feed data to missile, release it , guide via datalink comm then let seeker do the job. Now do it over large range envelope 200km, you feed general area coordinates to missile, let it go slow and activate seeker in the target area for target acquisition, which is why NGARM can fetch out the target even if it has stopped emitting radiation, that ability is built in.
Other mission is a su30 baits the radar to radiate by probing which is very risky mission and chance of shot down. Once you detect and identify, need very quick engagement because target location is marked in the radar and need to kill it before it reacts to your presence so missile dashes at 2.2 mach high up and engage the target within short time, hence low 100-120km max engagement zone. if another offesive mission is on at the same time that missile will dodge this area if possible via early path planning.
IAF is likely to cut this 2nd short range engagement and use LM like harrop for such missions, instead of using a jet mission. This is practical choice. So if mission priority goes down, so would NGARM role and demand. Then your choice is whether use NGARM for a 200km engagement at slower speed or use R2 like store instead which is true standoff weapon. All while the upcoming LM variants like Sheshnag, NAL uav, Harrop etc are on incremental curve and offer more flexibility in terms of target detection , acquire and engagement all in 1 single package and in visual video feed means. This is how technology shape warfare i guess.
if saturation is one of the aims, why drones can not do that? compared to NGARM drones/loitering ammo can do multiple part of the mission all by itself. Long range, data link2 way, video feed, target acquire, target monitoring, IFF, swarm mode engagement, provide cue to other asset, satcom signal jamming , ew role, decoy role everything can be done via specialised version use.
Pak drones also tried to saturate us, but were they successful? Drones are good against a tier 2 IADS like that of Pak, but against China we would need proper NGARMs. Even if RudraM is now put as a TD, RudraM-2/3 shall be very potent because of their speed, range and warhead.
Absolutely
That is due to the AD grid, and in the reverse case IAF used harrop took out AD system inside Pak. So it proved the utility of this tool. Rest is up to the mission planner, if rightly used a proper utility tool can be used in meaningful way without having to rely on much high end asset.