The Navy's new missile

On the 8^th of January Mr. Shiv Aroor of livefist blog reported that the Indian Navy was looking for new medium range missiles to augment its existing arsenal, the basic characteristics as mentioned in the full tender here http://tenders.gov.in/viewtenddoc.asp?tid=del539136&wno=1&td=TD  are

Purpose- To be deployed on surface warships for offensive combat against other surface warships.

Range- 120km (minimum)

Weight- 1000Kg maximum

Warhead weight- 100kg minimum

Speed- Greater than or equal to 0.9 Mach at an altitude of less than 20m.

RCS- low radar cross section of 0.5-1 sqm

This post is intended to discuss the various missiles that fit the requirements and try to provide a short comparison to see which fits the basic parameters best. Products are being compared from Europe the Americas, Russia and Korea only; since RCS for most missiles is not available from open sources we shall not be comparing the same.

The basic missiles that fit this criterion are

Missile	Country	Range(km)	Weight(Kg)	Warhead weight(Kg)	Speed
NSM	Norway	185+	410Kg	125Kg	High Subsonic
Kh-35	Russia	130	520kg	145Kg	0.8Mach
RBS-15	Sweden	250	800kg	200kg	Subsonic
Harpoon	U.S.A	124	691Kg	221Kg	864kmph
Otomat/Teseo	Italy	180+	770Kg	210Kg	1100Kmph
Exocet	France	180	670Kg	165Kg	315m/sec
Hae Sung	S.Korea	150	718Kg	unspecified	Mach 0.85

1)      NAVAL STRIKE MISSILE(Norway)

Undoubtedly one of the most modern missiles in this category the Naval Strike Missile's is a product from Norway’s Kongsberg Defence systems, the initial serial production contract was signed in June 2007 and the missile came into production in . The same has been selected by the Norwegian and polish navies till date for their requirements with  the Norwegian deliveries having already begun and the polish deliveries planned for 2013-2016.The NSM is also the base for the Future JSM(joint strike missile) that is being developed as an anti-shipping missile to be carried by the F-35 Lightning II.

 USP= the USP of this missile has to be the fact that it is by far the most modern anti ship missile to have entered service with any navy the world over. Also the advanced marine Infrared seeker it carries helps it to correctly identify and target even stealthy ships.

2) Kh-35

The “Kayak” or the “Harpoonski” is the most widely selling anti-ship missile in the Russian arsenal. First reported by the western media in 1983, this is a very versatile weapon with multiple surface, subsea, air and land launched variants. Initially developed for the export market it has also come into extensive use with the Russian military itself.

It is currently in use with the Russian, Indian, Algerian, Iraninan and Vietnamese naval services.

USP- at 500,000$ a piece probably one of the cheapest anti-ship missiles available in large quantities of the shelf now. Also the support and maintenance base for it already exists in India.

3) RBS-15

This Swedish product is an evolutionary design and its pedigree can be traced all the way back to the RB08 of the 1960’s. However make no mistake the RBS-15 MK3 is a beast of a missile carrying a 200km warhead for an estimated range of up to 250km.The Mk3 has been in production since 2004 and is in operation with the Swedish, Finnish, and German and polish naval services.

USP- undoubtedly the range, with a 250km reported range the MK-3 has the longest legs of all the missiles on the list giving whichever navy using it the chance to fire first.

4) Harpoon

One of the most successful anti- shipping missiles ever made, the AGM-84 harpoon first came into American service in 1977 and has been a mainstay of America and its allies ever since. The missile on offer is the Block 2D version of the Harpoon and carries with it the veritable legacy and pedigree of a missile that has proved its mettle in active combat more than once. The harpoon is currently in use with the military forces of approximately 30 nations worldwide, India has also zeroed I on the air launched AGM-84 version of the missile for the P8-I patrol aircraft.

USP- the combat heritage of this weapon is unmatched by any other missile on the list except for maybe the exocet.also in any weapons deal the Americans are always the 200lbs gorilla you cannot hope to ignore.

5) Otomat

The Otomat missile program first began in 1967 and at the time it was the first European missile to use turbojet propulsion instead of the rocket propulsion in vogue those days. The name Otomat comes from an amalgamation of the two companies that took upon themselves the development of this missile jointly i.e. the Italian OTO-Melara and the French Matra corporations. It finally came into service with the Italian navy in 1976; it has since been adopted by the naval forces of another 11 nations including the Bangladesh navy from next door.

USP- the mid course data correction which can make the missile execute an up to 200degree turn bringing all missiles in a salvo to a particular target, and the special warhead design that causes the explosion to occur only after the missile has entered into the target’s ship’s hull and direct the majority of the explosive force towards the bottom of the vessel are particular points to note.

5) Exocet

The Exocet is one of the two missiles in this list to have been used in active combat and the only one here to have struck and disabled a destroyer class warship. First deployed as the MM38 in the 1970’s by the French Naval service it has now grown to encompass an entire family of air, surface and submarine launched weapons and has been adopted by the naval services of approximately 35 nations till date. The version believed to be on offer is the MM40 Block 3 that has an estimated range of 180km with a warhead weighing 165kilograms.

The Exocet first made its mark in modern warfare when two missiles fired by Dassault Breguet Super Etendard aircraft of the argentine naval serves struck and fatally disabled the HMS Sheffield and the merchant ship “Atlantic conveyor” during the first Falklands war. An Exocet was also fired from an improvised land based launcher at the HMS Glamorgan by the Argentine forces causing extensive damage to the vessel. The Pakistani Navy deploys the Exocet from its mirages and Atlantic aircraft and its Agosta submarines, the Indian navy has already chosen the MM40 as the missile for its scorpenes.

USP- tested in war, already approved by the naval command for use on board our latest submarines and the long standing relationship we’ve had with France.

Now after the established players in the Indian Missile race I’d like to mention the dark horse that may yet leave it's mark.

1)      Hae sung

The Korean Hae sung a relatively modern weapon it has only been operationally deployed since 2006 on the Korean KDX-II and KDX-III destroyers. Very little is known about this weapon system due to its relative modernity and the fact that no one but the Koreans has it.

So which missile will come to us? I do not know going by the parameters we can clearly see that the RBS-15 stands heads and shoulders above its contemporaries when it comes to range but is unproven in combat, combat heritage is something both the harpoon and the exocet can lay claim to more than any other missile on the list. While the Kh-35 is dirt cheap in missile terms and the NSM is the most modern and the only one here that can claim to be able to target stealth ships. This post was only intended to put forward the variety of choices nothing more.

As always all information and pictures are from open sources freely available on the internet only.