Astra Mark 2 Missile: Within the next several months, India intends to conduct the first test of the 120-130 km strike range Astra Mark 2 air-to-air missile. This will be a significant capacity boost for the fighter fleet of the Indian Air Force.
The Indian Air Force already has the Astra Mark-1 air-to-air missile, which has a strike range of around 90-100 kilometres. Additionally, the Astra Mark-1 missile is already integrated with the LCA Tejas and the Su-30 MKI fighter jets.
We are currently working on constructing the Astra Mark-2 air-to-air missile, which has a strike range of 120-130 kilometres, and we are planning to conduct the first test firing within the next few months, according to officials from the defence department who spoke with ANI.
The Indian Air Force would have an advantage over its rivals in air-to-air combat if it were to acquire the Astra Mark 2, according to them. Additionally, the Astra Mark 2 might be offered as an export product to friendly foreign governments who use Sukhoi aircraft of Russian provenance.
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The Defense Research and Development Organization has been working toward the development of the Astra Mark-1 and Astra Mark 2, as well as a longer version of the Astra Mark-3. This would give it a capability that is comparable to that of the Meteor missiles that have been brought to India along with the Rafael fighter jets.
Pakistan might have Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles with a long-range, but what they’ve said about what these missiles can do isn’t entirely clear.
Both the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Navy have already agreed to buy Astra Mark-1 beyond visible range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAM) from Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL). The Ministry of Defense (MoD) was responsible for making this agreement.
