comments on astra missile
Answers
Answer:
In a bid to provide a fillip to the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence Thursday approved procurement of Astra missiles and long-range land attack cruise missile systems with a range of 1,000 km for Air Force and Navy. Aside from these, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, also approved procurement of a number of frontline fighter jets—21 MiG-29 fighter jets are being bought from Russia while 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft will be procured from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
A first of its kind indigenous missile, Astra was flight-tested successfully from a Sukhoi-30 MKI jet as a part of user trials by the Indian Air Force off the coast of Odisha on September 19 last year.
What is Astra missile?
Indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra is designed to be mounted on a fighter aircraft and is also designed to engage and destroy highly manoeuvring supersonic aircraft.
With a 15-kilogram high-explosive pre-fragmented warhead, Astra has a range of over 70 km and can fly towards its target at a speed of over 5,555 km per hour. The missile has all-weather day and night capability.
The missile has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), along with almost 50 other public and private organisations, which were involved in multiple variants to meet specific requirements.
For the IAF trials, the Astra Mk-I Weapon system integrated with SU-30 Mk-I aircraft was carried out by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Explanation:
Astra (Sanskrit: "weapon"[11]) is an all weather beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. It is the first air-to-air missile developed by India. It features mid-course inertial guidance with terminal active radar homing.[12] Astra is designed to be capable of engaging targets at varying range and altitudes allowing for engagement of both short-range targets at a distance of 10 km (6.2 mi) and long-range targets up to a distance of 110 km (68 mi).[13][14] Astra has been integrated with Indian Air Force's Sukhoi Su-30MKI and will be integrated with Dassault Mirage 2000, HAL Tejas and Mikoyan MiG-29 in the future. Limited series production of Astra missiles began in 2017.[5][15][16]
Astra
AstraMk1Missile.jpg
Astra missile on static display
Type
Beyond-visual-range missile
Place of origin
India
Service history
In service
2019–present
Used by
Indian Air Force
Indian Navy
Production history
Manufacturer
Bharat Dynamics, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Electronics Corporation of India
Unit cost
₹7−8 crore (US$−1.1 million)
Produced
2017–present
Variants
Astra Mk 1, Astra Mk 2, Astra IR, Astra Mk 3
Specifications
Mass
154 kg (340 lb)
Length
3.57 m (11.7 ft)
Diameter
178 mm (7.0 in)
Warhead
High-explosive pre-fragmented HMX/PU[1]
Warhead weight
15 kg (33 lb)
Detonation
mechanism
Radio proximity fuze
Propellant
Solid fuel
Operational
range
Astra Mark 1: 110 km (68 mi)
Astra IR: 80 km (50 mi) (under-development)
Astra Mark 2: 160 km (99 mi)[2] (under-development)
Astra Mark 3: 350 km (220 mi)[3] (under-development)
Flight ceiling
20 km (66,000 ft)
Maximum speed
Mach 4.5[4]
Guidance
system
Mid-course: Fibre-optic gyro inertial navigation system with mid-course update via datalink. Terminal: Active radar homing
Launch
platform
MiG-29UPG / MiG-29K
Mirage 2000
Su-30MKI
Tejas Mk.1/1A / Mk.2
AMCA