Indian missiles: The Indian Army is moving forward with two cases totalling Rs 6,800 crore to construct Very Short Range Air Defense (VSHORAD) systems domestically. This is because there isn’t enough inventory of shoulder-fired missiles to counter aerial threats coming from China and Pakistan’s borders.
The Army intends to produce and obtain more than 500 launchers and approximately 3,000 missiles through indigenous methods, according to ANI.
According to the ANI report, “At the same time, the Indian Army, along with the other stakeholders, is looking at the possibility of an old tender scrapped earlier in which the Russian Igla-S was selected, given the delays for finding a replacement for the old Igla-1M missiles.”
The Igla 1M VSHORAD missile system was inducted in 1989 and was scheduled for de-induction in 2013, according to Defence Ministry officials, however, the present VSHORAD missiles in the inventory of the Army and Air Force are all outfitted with lR homing guidance systems.
“At present, there is a ₹4,800 crore project in which a public sector unit headquartered in Hyderabad and a private sector Pune-based firm have been engaged for developing a laser beam riding VSHORADS which would be used by the forces to protect the borders to protect from enemy drones, fighter aircraft and choppers,” military officials told ANI.
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According to the statement, the Indian Army, which is the project’s primary user and will receive the majority of the 1,200 missiles and 200 launchers, will be in charge of the project.
Of the 1,200 missiles that are supposed to be part of the project, 700 are expected to go there. The rest would go to the IAF.
According to them, the two companies are required by the Defence Acquisition Procedure’s Indian Designed, Developed, and Manufactured provision to create the system’s prototype.
Industry sources have, however, reported that this program’s progress has not been very encouraging. The Design and Development Project being carried out by the DRDO to create an infra-red homing-based VSHORADS is another initiative that is being advanced.
Adani Defense and I-Comm, two of the DRDO’s development/production partners, are collaborating with the former to create Laser Beam Riding Vessels.
According to the officials, the DRDO has tested the system using a tripod, and they are now anticipated to reduce the system’s size so that it may be launched from the shoulder.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army and Air Force purchased about 96 Russian Igla launchers under its Emergency Procurement powers. Of these, 48 have already arrived as part of the first batch of purchases placed under EP-1, and the remaining 48 are scheduled to come soon.
A proposal to resurrect the contract, which was abandoned more than five years ago, has also been made in the interim. In that deal, the Russian side was the lowest bidder, offering its Igla-S system.
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Meetings amongst project stakeholders are anticipated shortly to discuss how to implement the project under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
A project that was supposed to cost ₹4,800 crores was cancelled by the Defense Ministry.
Defense Ministry officials say that the usefulness and flexibility of VSHORAD missiles have been shown many times in battle, most recently in the recent war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Indian military has been making progress on getting rid of their old VSHORADS system.
