BMD INTERCEPTOR MISSILES - DEFENCE AND SECURITY
News: India
conducts successful trial of BMD interceptor missile
What's in the news?
● India
has successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of a sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of
Odisha.
● The
missile test was conducted by the Defence Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO) and the Indian Navy on April 21.
Key takeaways:
● The
purpose of the trial was to engage and neutralize a hostile ballistic missile
threat thereby elevating India into the elite club of nations having Naval BMD capability.
India’s Ballistic Missile Defence programme
● India’s
Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme aims to provide an air-defence shield from all types of
hostile missiles, even the nuclear ones.
● DRDO
is developing a two-tier BMD system to provide a multi-layered shield against
ballistic missile attacks.
● The
two-tier system is intended to destroy an incoming missile, at a higher altitude,
in the exo-atmosphere and if that miscarries, an endo-atmospheric interceptor
will take place.
Two-tiers of BMD System:
1. Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) Missile:
● This
can intercept and destroy missiles at exo-atmospheric
altitudes of 50–180 kilometres.
● It
is based on the Prithvi missile. The Pradyumna Ballistic Missile Interceptor is
going to replace the Prithvi air defence.
2. Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile:
● The
second layer is Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile for lower altitude
interception.
● This
is designed to knock down hostile missiles in the endo-atmosphere at altitudes of 15-40 kilometers.
● Akash
Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM) is part of AAD.
Go back to basics:
Ballistic Missiles:
● Ballistic
missiles are powered initially by a
rocket or series of rockets in stages (first stage), but then follow an
unpowered (without fuel) curved trajectory mostly above the atmosphere (second
stage) before descending to reach its intended target (third stage). Thus,
Ballistic missiles have three stages of flight.
● Types of Ballistic
Missiles:
○ Ballistic
missiles with range less than 1,000 kilometers are also known as "tactical" ballistic missiles.
○ Ballistic
missiles with range between 1,000 and 3,000 kilometers are also known as "theater" ballistic missiles.
○ Ballistic
missiles whose range is more than 5,500 kilometers (approximately 3,410 miles)
are also known as intercontinental or
strategic ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
● A
ballistic missile is only guided during
the initial short boost phase, but minor corrections can be made by means
of control motors.
● Ballistic
missiles can carry either nuclear or
conventional warheads.
● They
can be launched from ground, air, sea or
submarine platforms.
Cruise Missiles:
● Cruise
missiles are unmanned vehicles that are propelled
by jet engines, much like an airplane.
● They
can be launched from ground, air, sea or
submarine platforms.
● Cruise
missiles remain within the atmosphere for the duration of their flight and can
fly as low as a few meters off the ground.
● Flying
low to the surface of the earth expends more fuel but makes a cruise missile very difficult to detect.
● Cruise
missiles are self-guided and use
multiple methods to accurately deliver their payload, including terrain
mapping, global positioning systems (GPS) and inertial guidance.