Astra BVRAAM

[Kchontha]

When inducted astra bvraam will be expected to equip all the iaf frontline combat ACs. While the meteor bvraam will be arrivimg to india along with rafale. Which one is better astra or meteor? Please illuminate.

 

[PD_Solo]

When inducted astra bvraam will be expected to equip all the iaf frontline combat ACs. While the meteor bvraam will be arrivimg to india along with rafale. Which one is better astra or meteor? Please illuminate.

Quoting from Quora...

Astra is the very first Air-to-Air missile to be designed and developed in India. The seeker is not Indian, but pretty much most of all the other building blocks are Indian. The Indian engineers and scientists, as one can imagine, had to go through a very steep learning curve to bring the Astra missile to fruition. So the missile's capabilities might seem like a mirror of some of the existing missiles. A lot of critical technologies related to propulsion, guidance and control surface actuation were perfected. As a result, India will soon have a home-cooked BVR munition at a steep discount and custom made to the Air force's requirements, replacing for most part, the R-77 and the Matra Super-530D.

The Meteor is in a completely different league. MBDA has built a worthy missile befitting its long and illustrious legacy of building precision guided munitions. The biggest showpiece technology on the Meteor is the miniature solid fueled ramjet engine. A ramjet propelled missile has sustained(And throttlable) thrust under its disposal longer than the standard solid rocket motor propelled missile.

With a 'vanilla' BVR missile (every other missile in the market with a standard solid rocket motor), there is a 'burn time' (on avg abt 25 secs) which provides the missile all the thrust it would possibly need to reach its target. After this initial burn, the missile bleeds energy as it heads to the target. The missile bleeds energy more rapidly if it has to turn hard. If the target starts maneuvering hard, or turns tail and makes a run for it, there is a chance the missile will fall short of its target.

With a throttlable ramjet, the missile can throttle down the thrust during the 'coasting' phase and preserve some 'juice' for the end game chase. Another option available for missile designers is to use a 'dual pulse' rocket motor (similar to the rocket motor on the Barak-8), which kicks starts a second rocket motor which provides thrust for the end game chase.

India already has a working solid fueled ramjet engine in the Akash missile. Miniaturizing it to enough to fit on an Air to air missile is the challenge.

 

[PD_Solo]

When inducted astra bvraam will be expected to equip all the iaf frontline combat ACs. While the meteor bvraam will be arrivimg to india along with rafale. Which one is better astra or meteor? Please illuminate.

Quoting from Quora...

Astra is the very first Air-to-Air missile to be designed and developed in India.The Indian engineers and scientists, as one can imagine, had to go through a very steep learning curve to bring the Astra missile to fruition. So the missile's capabilities might seem like a mirror of some of the existing missiles. A lot of critical technologies related to propulsion, guidance and control surface actuation were perfected. As a result, India will soon have a home-cooked BVR munition at a steep discount and custom made to the Air force's requirements, replacing for most part, the R-77 and the Matra Super-530D.

The Meteor is in a completely different league. MBDA has built a worthy missile befitting its long and illustrious legacy of building precision guided munitions. The biggest showpiece technology on the Meteor is the miniature solid fueled ramjet engine. A ramjet propelled missile has sustained(And throttlable) thrust under its disposal longer than the standard solid rocket motor propelled missile.

With a 'vanilla' BVR missile (every other missile in the market with a standard solid rocket motor), there is a 'burn time' (on avg abt 25 secs) which provides the missile all the thrust it would possibly need to reach its target. After this initial burn, the missile bleeds energy as it heads to the target. The missile bleeds energy more rapidly if it has to turn hard. If the target starts maneuvering hard, or turns tail and makes a run for it, there is a chance the missile will fall short of its target.

With a throttlable ramjet, the missile can throttle down the thrust during the 'coasting' phase and preserve some 'juice' for the end game chase. Another option available for missile designers is to use a 'dual pulse' rocket motor (similar to the rocket motor on the Barak-8), which kicks starts a second rocket motor which provides thrust for the end game chase.

India already has a working solid fueled ramjet engine in the Akash missile. Miniaturizing it to enough to fit on an Air to air missile is the challenge.

 

[Steven Rogers]

I don't think the sonic boom of a small missile is going to break windows. The pilot did not adhere to operational procedures and I am sure he is being reprimanded as we speak.

That noise probably created by the sonic boom of the flying aircraft Su30mki

 

[Prashant12]

#Astra BVRAAM just seconds after its release.

 

[Prashant12]

Video of #Astra Trial

 

[Prashant12]

Latest Astra Trial Video:

 

[airtel]

When inducted astra bvraam will be expected to equip all the iaf frontline combat ACs. While the meteor bvraam will be arrivimg to india along with rafale. Which one is better astra or meteor? Please illuminate.

Of course Meteor is Better , range more than 200 KM ( 300 km according to Japanese ) , It will be less for Export version .............
and Much more advanced seeker .
but that is a Very costly missile .
but ASTRA can provide 80% of the performance at extremely cheap cost .

 

[cobra commando]

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted the final development flight trials of ‘Astra’– Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) over the Bay of Bengal, off the coast of Chandipur, Odisha, earlier this week. A total of seven trials were conducted against the Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA), including engagement of target at very long range, engagement of high manoeuvring target at medium range and multiple launches of missiles in salvo to engage multiple targets. It has been developed by DRDL, Hyderabad, with avionics, including the critical RF Seeker developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI). All the sub-systems performed accurately, meeting all the mission parameters and objectives. Two missiles were also launched in the combat configuration with warhead and the targets were neutralised, said an official press release on Friday night. This effort for building a state-of-the-art BVRAAM by DRDO, together with the Indian Air Force (IAF) has completed the development phase of the weapon system successfully. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) too has played a role in modifying the aircraft for weapon integration while more than 50 public and private industries have contributed in building the Astra weapon system. S. Venugopal, programme director, led the launch operations and flight trials along with the teams from multiple organisations. Director general, Missiles and Strategic Systems, G. Satheesh Reddy said the technologies developed under the programme will be the building blocks for development of more variants of air-to-air and surface- to-air missiles.

DRDO successfully tests air- to-air missile Astra

 

[Rahul Singh]

Another pic from yesterday's #Astra BVRAAM trials with co-pilot (FTE) in focus; missile release captured by an onboard cam on Sukhoi. #IAF

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/909005612750483457

This test was with a live warhead. That red strip symbolizes active warhead. In contrast, pics below has no such red strip meaning it had an inert warhead.

Wonder what IAF was testing with Astra MK-1 in the inert configuration? Guidance? Had not they did it many times before. Or IAF was testing for Hit-To-Kill probability?

Video of #Astra Trial

 

[S.Balaji]

Out of 7 missile tests only 2 were in combat mode with war heads going for successful kinetic kills...others tests were simulated proximity kills where missed distance of missile with target fell within the warheads kill zone....all tests were successful

 

[S.Balaji]

Out of 7 missile tests only 2 were in combat mode with war heads going for successful kinetic kills...others tests were simulated proximity kills where missed distance of missile with target fell within the warheads kill zone....all tests were successful...astra is equipped with both impact n proximity fuse for both kinetic kills n proximity kills

 

[lcafanboy]

Why Astra MK1 to Astra CCM won’t be easy for India
Published September 18, 2017 SOURCE: Anand SG / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

R-73 used for Representation Pic

Enforcing Air Superiority in a war always will remain a primary factor for Indian Air Force and critical driving force which will factor in will be Air-Air Missile (AAM) deployed. AAMs now not only determine the outcome of a dogfight but it will also determine the outcome of the war. In the pursuit to enforce Air Superiority doctrine and boost its fighter weapon system design and development. India’s premier weapons research and development organization ” DRDO” achieved an important milestone when its Astra MK1 Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) achieved 7 Successful launch and interceptions of Aerial targets tested out in real combat situations with indigenous seeker thus completing its developmental trials which first begin in 2003. Astra MK1 will enter limited production with 50 units and will enter Batch production in coming following years and for the first time, DRDO Chief acknowledged Astra has opened up doors to further develop newer other variants of Air-Air Missiles which will provide indigenous alternatives to fighter weapon systems. Path DRDO has taken is that a Successor program already has been initiated and will use Next Generation Propulsion system along with improved range to provide Indian Air Force next-generation Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile. Research and Development with help from Russia already have been initiated and Ground firing trials along with engine trials should commence soon. Recent reports also hint that IAF and DRDO have begun talks on the development of another important aspect in Air-to-Air Weaponry that is the development of Withing Visual Range (WVR) or Close Combat Missiles (CCM) Air-to-Air Missiles. Astra BVRAAM program has provided enough of basic research data to work on Close Combat Air-to-Air Missiles, but it is also an acknowledged fact that CCM is also much more difficult to develop then BVRAAMs due to the exceptional performance required at such short range leaving were no room for error in a dogfight. CCM plays a vital and critical role in operational deployment for Indian air force since most of the forward bases between India and Pakistan are just a few minutes away from flight time and chances of deployment of BVRAAMs are quite low in a dogfight. IAF has in their possession framed R-73 Archer, MICA and Python-5 CCMs which are world renowned for their technical superiority at short range dogfights and for Indian alternative CCM it will need to be a world beater and maybe even technologically superior to the existing systems. Close Combat Air-to-Air Missiles need high angular tracking rates, superior aerodynamics agile performance and one of the best seekers to defeat a rival in a dogfight. Since the range between two aircraft sometimes is less than 300 meters, CCM Seekers need to operate at high turn rates while carrying out violet maneuvering in engagement geometry where Air Intercept Radar still has not achieved a Lock on of the target. Also, Close Combat Air-to-Air Missile motor is required to work in sync with seeker and onboard processor to achieve No Escape zone against a high maneuvering target at close range. Use of Thrust vectoring nozzles and flight homing algorithm also plays a critical role. Another set of challenges is that the aerodynamic design of a CCM is usually much more complex since it needs to provide the best of stability at a high angle of attack and also be capable of pulling much more G Capabilities then BVRAAMs.

Conclusions

Development of CCM will no doubt will bring in the complex set of challenges for DRDO and quick turnaround should not be expected from them. In fact, average development time for CCM usually have been 12-15 years even in the western countries which have more established defense sector, but Within Visual Range (WVR) or Close Combat Missiles (CCM) Air-to-Air Missiles still remain a vital component of every fighter jet and will continue to do so even in future, when the world is already making a gradual shift towards 5th generation fighter jets which usually try to avoid dogfights to remain invisible at long ranges .

http://idrw.org/why-astra-mk1-to-astra-ccm-wont-be-easy-for-india/ .

 

[Prashant12]

After successful development trials, Astra missile ready for production


Beyond-visual-range missile to be made by Bharat Dynamics

HYDERABAD, SEPTEMBER 18:
Astra, the beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, is now set for production and induction into the armed forces.

A set of seven development trials were successfully conducted between September 11-14 over the Bay of Bengal, off the coast of Chandipur in Odisha. In all the attempts, the missile hit and destroyed the pilotless target aircraft, the Union Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

With these final trials, the indigenous missile system developed by the Defence Research Development Organisation, with the active participation of several private industries and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, will be manufactured by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).

Manufacturing facility

The Astra manufacturing facility at the BDL Bhanur unit near Sangareddy in Telangana was inaugurated last month by Arun Jaitleywhen he was in charge of the Defence Ministry. It comprises Astra launcher and missile, and is designed as a BVR missile with a range of 110 km in head-on mode and 20 km in tail-chase mode. The missile is to arm the Indian Air Force, and is to be integrated with the Sukhoi multi-role fighters initially. During the trials, the missions included engagement of target at a very-long range, high manoeuvring target at medium-range and multiple launches of missiles in salvo to engage multiple targets. All the sub-systems, including the indigenous RF Seeker performed accurately, meeting all the mission parameters and objectives, defence scientists stated.

HAL has played a role in modifying the aircraft for weapons integration. More than 50 public and private industries have contributed in building the Astra weapon system, according to S Venugopalan, Programme Director, who led the launch operations and flight trials along with teams from multiple organisations.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com...ssile-ready-for-production/article9864087.ece

 

[vishnugupt]

the completion of development triAl of Astra missile came with a bang probably first time we r witnessing such feet by DRDO. we can assume, how flawless missile would have performed that even our anti-india media have nothing to criticize but praise

 

[porky_kicker]

ASTRA MK1 launch from SU30MKI

 

[BON PLAN]

ASTRA MK1 launch from SU30MKI

View attachment 21400
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Trial test of a prototyp or serial missile fired ?

 

[lcafanboy]

Trial test of a prototyp or serial missile fired ?

Development trial firing...........

Initial order of 50 Astra mk1 for LSP placed and being manufactured by BEL I suppose.........

 

[Armand2REP]

Development trial firing...........

Initial order of 50 Astra mk1 for LSP placed and being manufactured by BEL I suppose.........

Did BEL ever replace the R-77 seeker?

 

[NeXoft007]

Did BEL ever replace the R-77 seeker?

Yes, Astra BVRAAM now have completely indigenous RF seeker.