Nirbhay Cruise Missile Development

[DingDong]

Detailed analysis of the failure

http://english.mathrubhumi.com/mobile/news/india/delay-in-wing-deployment-caused-nirbhay-missile’s-third-failure-nirbhay-missile-1.1651801

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We are getting there. Once the art is perfected, DRDO will fly high just like ISRO.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

We are getting there. Once the art is perfected, DRDO will fly high just like ISRO.

You know, it's already flying high.

Complexity of tackling hot corrosion for repetitive use engine is a difficult task than making a single use engine which will be blasted away later.

 

[ezsasa]

Poor quality of fabricated components cited as a cause for wing malfunction of Nirbhay Missile which was the main cause of the failure

https://www.facebook.com/TeamINDRA/posts/854233774718308:0&width=500

if i am not wrong, 2013 test also failed because of similar reason.

 

[IndianHawk]

Poor quality of fabricated components cited as a cause for wing malfunction of Nirbhay Missile which was the main cause of the failure

Fabricated components!!
That's should have been the easy part. Shouldn't it

 

[indiatester]

Poor quality of fabricated components cited as a cause for wing malfunction of Nirbhay Missile which was the main cause of the failure

https://www.facebook.com/TeamINDRA/posts/854233774718308:0&width=500

if i am not wrong, 2013 test also failed because of similar reason.

Fabricated components!!
That's should have been the easy part. Shouldn't it

Not only should it have been easier part, but also the easiest to quality check statically and in a mock run. Not sure if I am convinced with this root cause analysis.

 

[cyclops]

Can someone tell me if the navigation systems and software are working fine in Nirbhay or what is its progress?
Whether we use some form of TERCOM and DSMAC systems on Nirbhay and how good are or aren't they ?

 

[raviprakash]

The wing deployment which caused the latest failure of Nirbhay mission.

 

[tejas warrior]

The wing deployment which caused the latest failure of Nirbhay mission.

Good one !!

Hope they fix it quickly.

 

[Chinmoy]

Ramjet technology is not same for PJ-10 and Akash systems ..

In past Nirbhay was also using ramjet and not turbine ..

Nirbhay never did used RAMJET. During the second test, which you are talking of, and whose video has been released, it was using turbofan engine. Reason being, it has been captured by an Jaguar aircraft whose top speed itself is around Mach 1.5. So no way it could have captured a missile flying at an speed of Mach 2 so efficiently.
Second, although RAMJET could operate in as low as 0.5 MACH, but it would be highly inefficient. But in that test it did flew for 72 mins. Now to fly for such a long duration at such a low speed with RAMJET you need huge amount of fuel. But looking at Nirbhay and its weight, it can't carry such a load. If you would compare the weight of BRAHMOS and Nirbhay, you would see that BRAHMOS is double the weight of Nirbhay with less then half the distance. More then 60% of Brahmos weight is its fuel which makes its RAMJET efficient enough to sustain supersonic speed throughout the flight duration.

 

[Alok Arya]

Next test of nirbhay in 2-3 month . It has a booster which launch missiles than a turbofan which drive missile for majority of its path , and in last will be another engine for supersonic end game . Last failure is due to failure to deploye wings at right time .

 

[cyclops]

Next test of nirbhay in 2-3 month . It has a booster which launch missiles than a turbofan which drive missile for majority of its path , and in last will be another engine for supersonic end game . Last failure is due to failure to deploye wings at right time .

Any official link for the above?

 

[Alok Arya]

From Cristophers recent interview . Waiting for official confirmation.

 

[Prashant12]

Next #Nirbhay test in April, says @DRDO_India

 

[cobra commando]

Indigenous 'Nirbhay' missile to be test-fired again: DRDO

 

[tsunami]

Fingers crossed. If it fails this time project might as well be dead.

 

[Scrutator]

Indigenous 'Nirbhay' missile to be test-fired again: DRDO

They got an 18 month extension. Maybe can they can still dunk a few more into the ocean before the sword comes down

 

[sayareakd]

Drdo boys, its this time or highway as Russians are coming with there cruise missiles and we hate imports. Not talking about army. So make it successful or forget it.

 

[Prashant12]

Nirbhay Fiasco – no need to be disheartened


Nirbhay Subsonic Cruise Missile

December 21, 2016 was bad day for India when the trial test of the nuclear-capable ‘Nirbhay’ long-range cruise missile failed for the third time. Ironically the missile has failed to achieve its failed parameters since March 2013. Like the previous tests, the third test also took place at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the coast of Odisha. According to DRDO officials, “The booster engine in Nirbhay’s first stage started working. The missile lifted off from its launcher. But it started veering dangerously towards one side in less than two minutes of its lift-off”, adding, “This is a hardware element issue. This is a reliability issue with a component. …. It is a big failure. We should have a thorough re-look at what has been done so far. Out of four Nirbhay missions, three have ended in failure.”

Nirbhay missile, once operational, will also likely be deployed aboard surface warships of the Indian Navy. DRDO is reportedly also working on developing an air-launched variant of the weapon system for the IAF.

The missile reportedly had to be destroyed mid-air after it deviated from its course. During the flight trial of this missile conducted on Octobe4 17, 2014, the missile reportedly travelled 1,010 kms while being monitored by the ground station and an IAF fighter jet. Nirbhay is a subsonic land attack cruise missile armed with a 300-kilogram warhead and capable of reaching speeds of 0.6-0.7 Mach. It is designed to be highly maneuverable, has loitering capabilities, and can be launched from air, sea, and land. India’s first domestically developed and built ballistic missile nuclear submarine (SSBN) class, the Arihant-class, is to be armed with the Nirbhay cruise missile. Nirbhay missile, once operational, will also likely be deployed aboard surface warships of the Indian Navy. DRDO is reportedly also working on developing an air-launched variant of the weapon system for the IAF.

Government has now given an 18 month extension for the Nirbhay project over the missiles operational capabilities. Having been launched in 2004, completion date of the project was 31 December 2016. The Nirbhay team has been asked to complete the project by June, 2018. Under developmental trial since 2013, the missile is yet to perform as per the expectations. Meanwhile, an independent technical committee has been formed to identify faults in the system that led to failure of the missile during its fourth trial on December 21.

The probe committee led by Dr Nagarajan Vedachalam, founder director of ISRO’s Inertial System Unit, will identify the faults and make recommendations to rectify them and make the system robust. Such a probe should have actually been launched during previous failures, which could have been affected earlier rectification given the expertise of ISRO. In fact, probe apart, ISRO should have been involved in the project itself much earlier, right from its inception.

There is no reason to be disheartened with Nirbhay’s fiasco on last December. Developing a cruise missile by itself is a complex issue, and Nirbhay will match the world’s most advanced in its category.

According to an unnamed official of the Nirbhay project quoted by the media, the blame game between the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ARDE) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI), both laboratories of DRDO cost the project more than the faults in the system. ARDE, which designed the missile, has been blaming RCI for supplying defective hardware, while RCI blames ARDE developed software causing recurring failures.

The Nirbhay project is about mastering cruise missile technology as much as it is about delivering a useable weapon to the armed forces. The Nirbhay subsonic cruise missile is to have: range exceeding 1,000 km; speed between 0.8 and 0.9 Mach; launch weight of 1,500 kg; length of 6 meters; carry conventional or nuclear warheads of 24 different types, and; fly at very low altitudes of 20 meters or less evading radar detection, using a terrain-following function facilitated by its onboard inertial navigation system.

There is no reason to be disheartened with Nirbhay’s fiasco on last December. Developing a cruise missile by itself is a complex issue, and Nirbhay will match the world’s most advanced in its category.

It is well known that even a country like China could develop a cruise missile only through reverse engineering after it picked up an unexploded American cruise missile aimed at Osama bin-Laden very many years ago. While Osama was saved having switched off his satellite phone and moving away, one of the three unexploded missile fell inside Pakistan, which China promptly picked up and copied.

India could have reverse engineered the BrahMos but refrained from doing so in deference to the agreement with Russia. There is every reason to believe that with ISRO’s involvement, Nirbhay will be delivered within the 18 months extension accorded to the project. It is quite amusing to note that soon after the Nirbhay test last December, Pakistan floated video clip of the test flight of its submarine launched Babur III missile, which appears to be nothing more than an animation fake.

…there is no reason DRDO cannot come up with a successful Nirbhay flight-test in the near future, especially with ISRO integrated into the project.

On February 11, 2017 the DRDO successfully test-fired a interceptor missile off Odisha coast and achieved a significant milestone in the direction of developing a two-layered Ballistic Missile Defence system. This mission, termed as “PDV mission is for engaging the targets in the exo-atmosphere region at an altitude above 50 km of earth’s atmosphere”, as per the DRDO. The interceptor is based on the nuclear-capable Prithvi missile and the target was developed for mimicking a hostile Ballistic Missile approaching from more than 2,000 km away was launched from a ship anchored in the Bay of Bengal.

In an automated operation, radar based detection and tracking system detected and tracked the enemy’s ballistic missile. The computer network with the help of data received from radars predicted the trajectory of the incoming Ballistic Missile. The PDV that was kept fully ready, took-off once the computer system gave the necessary command for lift-off. Significantly, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is one of the recent additions to America’s anti-ballistic missile arsenal; designed to intercept incoming missiles at the maximum altitude of 93 miles above the surface of the Earth.

India’s successful interceptor test brings the country closer to developing a robust BMD. With this feather under its cap, there is no reason DRDO cannot come up with a successful Nirbhay flight-test in the near future, especially with ISRO integrated into the project. The Nirbhay missile, together with the BrahMos, Agni-V and suchlike weaponry in India’s arsenal, should deter our adversaries from mischief.


http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/nirbhay-fiasco-no-need-to-be-disheartened/

 

[captscooby81]

EXCLUSIVE: Crucial Engine For India’s Cruise Missiles Revs Up

India’s Nirbhay subsonic long-range cruise missile during a test-firing.

Three months ago, India’s Nirbhay cruise missile was destroyed mid-flight after an electro-mechanical failure made it roll dangerously with half-opened wings. The roll glitched out the missile’s intertial navigation system, sending it careening out of its notified flight envelope and forcing the test team on ground to push the kill switch. As scientists work to clear up problems bedeviling the crucial long-range weapon effort, a related development is understood to be showing fresh promise, and could soon be a direct part of the Nirbhay: the Indian-built Manik mini turbofan engine, intended to power production series Nirbhay cruise missiles.

Almost exactly a year ago, DRDO chief S. Christopher witnessed a test run demonstration of the Manik turbofan at the DRDO’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) in Bengaluru. In March 2015, Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar was shown the engine switched on. It was in November 2014 that the mini turbofan engine was christened Manik.

Livefist has learnt that the Nirbhay cruise missile, currently powered by an NPO Saturn 36MT turbofan, will next be tested in the May-June period using a turbojet engine. While the GTRE has been mandated with proving the Manik turbofan by the time the Nirbhay’s other flight systems are proven, top sources confirm a Nirbhay test powered by a Manik engine could take place by the end of next year. The Manik turbofan has been under rigirous ground and high power tests for over two years now, and scientists are understood to be satisfied with progress. Current activity includes work spread between GTRE and the National Aerospace Laboratory. At the latter’s Propulsion Division, Manik components including its fan, centrifugal compressor, high pressure and low pressure turbines and alternator are under test.

At 425 kgF (kilogram-force) of thrust, scientists are working to reduce the Manik turbofan’s current 110 kilogram total weight. The engine makes major use of the Mishra Dhatu Nigam-developed MDN 321 special steel and special indigenous alloys. The Manik engine has only ever been displayed as a rapid-prototyping model at shows:

View image on Twitter

Significantly, the GTRE isn’t fully equipped to test the Manik and is working fast to add test capabilities and infrastructure. This was borne out yesterday in the defence standing committee’s report to Parliament, where the MoD made the following admission:

“The existing Fan & Compressor Test Facility at Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) has inadequate capacity and has become obsolete. To carry out testing of Fan & Compressor for existing and future generation gas turbine engine programmes of GTRE, it is essential to have a dedicated Fan & Compressor test facility at GTRE. GTRE is working out the budgetary cost of this facility to be established ‘on turnkey basis’ with an objective to initiate EPC approval by end of Oct 2016.”

The report further details aggressive plans to beef up a non-existent engine development and validation ecosystem in South India:

“The design improvement and validation of aero engine components and modules through testing is a continuous activity to enhance and demonstrate engine performance and reliability. At present, only limited aerodynamic and structural testing can be conducted within the country. Hence, the required component testing facilities at an estimated cost of Rs.1330 crore are planned to be established by DRDO at Rajanakunte, Bengaluru for development of Ghatak engine and all future generation aero engines.”

In addition, the DRDO is reported to be planning a twin test cell at GTRE to carry out ‘performance testing of gas turbine engines upto 130 kN thrust class’, which includes all versions of the Kaveri engine, including the dry version being developed for the Ghatak stealth UCAV. The bolstering of gas turbine development and testing infrastructure is belated but very welcome: it amplifies a recognition that India is willing to invest in one of the toughest areas of military science, one that has tormented the most advanced nations, and is currently harrowing China too.

But the Nirbhay isn’t the end ga, as it were
Livefist learns the Manik turbofan will also power the DRDO’s secretive Long Range Cruise Missile (LRCM), a weapon project revealed first here on Livefist in 2010. Top DRDO sources reveal the LRCM, currently still in a configuration phase, will involve a three-stage power system: a booster to put the missile in the air, the Manik turbofan to power the LRCM through its 1,000-km cruise phase and, finally, a ramjet engine that will push the LRCM into supersonic endgame towards its target. The full-fledged project is being spearheaded by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) and Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL).

 

[captscooby81]

Not sure where these websites and analyst get information they have put Nirbhaya as operational when it not yet cleared one successful test with all parameters tested...

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