India’s Indigenous Cruise Missile: India has been rapidly expanding its missile arsenal in recent months, and this week’s successful test of a domestic projectile has added to the country’s growing strength in this area. Sputnik India investigates the potential effects on the nation’s defence technology industry of its Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM).
A military veteran has stated that India’s latest test of an indigenously developed cruise missile will be a “huge force multiplier” for its stockpile of weaponry.
India’s efforts to achieve “Atmanirbharta (self-reliance)” in this area have gained significant momentum following the ITCM’s flying test earlier this month off the coast of Odisha.
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Although this successful test was conducted for the missile’s land-based version, there have been rumours in the past few days that the country’s defence establishment is soon planning to launch the missile from the air.
This breakthrough follows India’s earlier test of a submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM), and with the addition of an air variant, the country will have its trifecta of indigenous cruise missile technologies completed.
Given that the ITCM has a far greater reach than conventional missiles, it is being argued that the air variant would provide the Indian Air Force (IAF) with more fangs.
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“For India, the ITCM will be a significant force multiplier. Major General (Retd) Shashi Bhushan Asthana told Sputnik India on Thursday that “most importantly, all components of this missile are Indian because earlier the biggest problem for the Indian defence tech sector used to be getting the engine for missiles.”
However, an Indian engine—a tiny turboprop engine—was used for the ITCM test that was carried out on April 18. The country can create more missiles, it doesn’t have to rely on foreign components, and it can produce multiple types thanks to the indigenous engine, he continued. This provides the Indian Armed Forces an incredible amount of capacity.
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“Furthermore, the ITCM enhances the capability of the Indian Defence Forces in many ways—firstly, the cruise missiles are less prone to enemy detection as these are sea-skimming cruise missiles, which fly very low, making it extremely difficult for the enemy air defence systems to intercept them,” Asthana stated.
The retired Indian Army general emphasized that India needs cruise missiles with larger ranges in its arsenal for this reason.
According to Sputnik News, India also possesses the short-range cruise missile, Prithvi. The Prithvi-II has a 350 km radius of target strike capability, while the ITCM has a 1000 km range.
“Any nation needs a variety of missiles to defend itself, and India’s ITCMs are an addition to its existing missile arsenal. The defence expert concluded, “With the Agni-V’s 8,000 km range and the Agni-VI’s potential to strike targets farther than 10,000 km, we have attained a respectable level of expertise in ballistic missiles.”
