India tests long-range cruise missile for precision-strike capabilities

India on Thursday tested the indigenous technology cruise missile (ITCM), with a strike range of 1,000-km, from the Chandipur integrated test range off the Odisha coast.

This subsonic long-range land-attack cruise missile, with a canister-launch system, will eventually be one of the mainstays of the tri-service Integrated Rocket Force to be raised for conventional (non-nuclear) combat capabilities and deterrence.

The missile’s performance on Thursday, powered by the indigenous Manik turbofan engine instead of the earlier Russian one, was monitored by several radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry sensors deployed at different locations to ensure complete coverage of the flight path.

The flightpath of the missile, which is a derivative of the original Nirbhay missile with indigenous systems, was also monitored by Sukhoi-30MKI fighters. “All subsystems performed as per expectation. The missile followed the desired path using waypoint navigation and demonstrated a very low altitude sea-skimming flight,” a DRDO official said.

“This successful flight-test also established the reliable performance of the indigenous propulsion system developed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment, Bengaluru. The missile is equipped with advanced avionics and software to ensure better and reliable performance. After one more test, it will be offered for user-trials,” he added.

With conflicts like the ongoing Russia-Ukraine one underscoring the need for long-range precision-strike vectors, as also the four-year-long military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, have led India to begin the initial groundwork for the proposed Integrated Rocket Force (IRF).

The IRF, which will have a mix of conventional cruise and ballistic missiles, will be separate from the tri-service Strategic Forces Command (SFC) created in 2003 to handle the country’s nuclear arsenal, as reported by TOI earlier.

Ballistic missiles -- like the nuclear-capable Agni missiles inducted in the SFC -- follow a parabolic trajectory, leaving and re-entering the earth’s atmosphere before hitting their targets. Cruise missiles, in turn, are designed to fly at low altitudes, almost hugging the terrain, to evade enemy radars and missile defence systems.

The 800-km-range BrahMos supersonic missile now being developed, after the induction of its 290-km and 450-km variants, as well as the 1,000-km ITCMs will be the cruise missiles in the IRF’s arsenal.

The ballistic missiles, in turn, will include the Pralay, with a strike range of 400 to 500-km, and another under-development 1,500-km missile yet to be named. The Pralay, powered by a solid propellant rocket motor, is designed for major conventional strikes with a 1,000-kg payload against enemy targets. “Initial Army and IAF orders for Pralay missiles are already in the works. Once it is raised, the IRF will need a diverse mix of long-range vectors,” a source said.