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.

Given the almost daily turmoil over religion in India i decided to revisit secularism and ask myself the question Is India Secular?
I dare say no, for in a truly secular nation every second official document will not require you to state your religion, for in a truly secular state laws will be governed by a common code and not by different codes for different religions, for in a truly secular nation the government will not form or fund any body related to any religion, for in a truly secular state the government will not support any form of religious pilgrimage and neither shall it impede anyone from undertaking one using their own personal means, for in any truly secular state religious bodies shall carry no measure of political power within themselves and shall confine themselves to matters theocratic only.
we remain secular only in letter while successive governments work more and more to erode that secularism and divide the nation further in terms of religion. "Akbar the great" had a more secular administration than any government we have had in the recent past i would say.

The Kumbh mela is far more than just another "religious pilgrimage" for it represents one of the last extant great migrations of mankind, every 12 years since as far as written human history can remember humans have come to the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the almost mythical Saraswati to bathe in the holy confluence and wash away the sins of a lifetime.Remember when you see it that it is not just religion but a facet of human civilizational evolution that has seen human civilization grow from the small agarian communities we once were to the globally connected networked civilization we are now!

AGNI Missiles "More than what meets the eye"

Agni-V Launch Press Release Photo

First the basics, what is and ICBM and how does it differ from an IRBM. An ICBM as defined by WIKIPEDIA is” An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range of more than 5,500 kilometers (3,400 mi)” while an IRBM is “an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000–5,000 km (1,865–3,100 miles)”.India Started its quest for a declared IRBM capability with the Birth of the IGMDP on July 22^nd 1983 and the AGNI program started along with it. The first technology demonstrator version of the AGNI was tested in 1989 from the interim test range at Chandipur on sea in Orissa. The AGNI –II and the AGNI-I are the two versions of this missile that have currently been operationally deployed by the armed forces in a declared capacity with maximum declared ranges of 3,000Km and 750Km respectively. The Agni-II is operational with the 335 Missile group at Secundrabad while the Agni-I is operational with the 334 Missile Group also at Secundrabad.

The program was further expanded to include two new Missiles called the AGNI-III and the AGNI-V in the late 2000’s. The first successful test of the AGNI-III missile took place on the 12^th of April 2007 with subsequent successful tests on the 7^th of May 2008 and February 7^th 2010 the missile was declared successfully inducted into the armed forces in June 2011 and a missile group is currently being raised to utilize these missiles. The SFC has also conducted a successful user test of the AGNI-III with the test of an operational SFC missile on the 21^st of September 2012.The AGNI-V for its part was first tested on 19^th April 2012 and was declared to be an ICBM with a maximum range of 5,800Km.

Now that we’re done with the basics let’s move on to the interesting stuff in the two Tables below I have provided a short self-explanatory analyses of the AGNI-III and V with contemporary ICBM’s and IRBM’s.

COMPARISON OF AGNI SERIES WITH CONTEMPORARY IRBM'S & LRBM's
Missile	Weight	Height	Diameter	warhead weight	Reported Range	Engines	Country
AGNI-III	48,000Kg	17.0Mt	2Mt	2500kg	3,000Km	2-Stage Solid Fuel	India
AGNI-V	50,000Kg	17.5Mt	2Mt	1500Kg	5800Km	3-stage solid fuel	India
Jericho -II	26,000Kg	14.0Mt	1.56Mt	1000Kg	5000Km?	2 stage solid fuel	Israel
SS-20 "Saber"	37,100Kg	16.5Mt	1.8Mt	750Kg approx	5500Km	2 stage solid fuel	Soviet Union
BM25 Musudan	20,654Kg	12.0Mt	1.5Mt	1000Kg	4000Km	Single Stage Liquid	DPRK
S3	25,800Kg	13.8Mt	1.5Mt	1000Kg	3500Km	2 stage solid fuel	France
DF-21	14,700Kg	10.7Mt	1.4Mt	500-750Kg	3,000Km	2 stage solid fuel	China
Poseidon C3	29,200Kg	10.4Mt	1.9Mt	500-1000Kg	4,600Km	2 stage solid fuel	U.S.A

Two BM25 Musudan missiles on the 65 KWP anniversary parade, 10 October 2010

 Intermediate-range ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead RSD-10 Pioneer. It was deployed by the Soviet Union from 1976 to 1988. NATO reporting name was SS-20 Saber. It was withdrawn from service under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Ukrainian Air Force Museum in Vinnitsa.

 The DF-21D Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM)

Notice how the AGNI IRBM and LRBM seem to be much larger and heavier than any of their contemporaries around the world, that my friends indicates that these missiles carry far more fuel than declared with a potential for far greater ranges. For example a comparably modern Chinese DF-21 Road mobile IRBM carries only 14,700Kg of fuel compared to the AGNI-III’s 48,000Kg while achieving the same range. Similarly an Israeli Jericho-II IRBM carries nearly 20,000Kg less fuel while matching the range of an AGNI-III. on further comparison we see that all of the comparable IRBM’s and LRBM’s deployed in the world today have comparable characteristics except for the AGNI’s that seem to stick out like sore thumbs(Please note that I have not compared the AGNI-III or V to the Pakistani Missiles because there is no Pakistani missile comparable). The AGNI’s carry a lot more fuel and are bigger than their brethren please note that for determining range correctly we also have to factor in the warhead weight and type of propellant used, I have assumed here that the propellant used in the AGNI must be at least as developed as the one used by the DF-21 or the Jericho. Also the warhead weight is derived from Wikipedia only. However all said and done the AGNI series still looks to be quite unique in this segment. Now let us compare the AGNI series with Full fledged ICBM’s.

COMPARISON OF AGNI SERIES WITH CONTEMPORARY ICBM'S
Missile	Weight	Height	Diameter	warhead weight	Reported Range		Engines	Country
AGNI-III	48000Kg	17.0Mt	2Mt	2500kg	3,000Km		2-Stage Solid Fuel	India
AGNI-V	50,000Kg	17.5Mt	2Mt	1500Kg	5800Km		3-stage solid fuel	India
Minuteman -3	35,300Kg	18.2Mt	1.7Mt	260Kg(single W87)	13,000Km		3-stage solid fuel	U.S.A
Peacekeeper	96,750Kg	21.8Mt	2.3Mt	260x10Kg (10 MIRV w87)	9600Km		First two stages solid fuel top stage Liquid fuel	U.S.A
TOPOL-M	47,200Kg	22.7Mt	1.9Mt	1000-1500Kg?	11,000Km		3-stage solid fuel	Russia
RS-24 “Yars”	49,000Kg	20.9Mt	2.0Mt	800-1000Kg?(4xMIRV approx 250Kg each)	10.500Km		3-stage solid fuel	Russia
DF-41	30,000Kg	15Mt	2.0Mt	1000-1500Kg?	14,000Km		3-stage solid fuel	China
DF-31	46,000Kg	13Mt	2.25Mt	750-1000Kg?	8,000Km		3-stage solid fuel	China

The Agni series of Missiles fits in perfectly with this second group, the problem being that these are all missiles with far more range and capability than the declared intent of the Agni’s. Here in this group we have the Minuteman III a 13,000Km range monster that is today the mainstay of the American land based strategic missile systems, The TOPOL-M an 11,000Km beast that fulfils the same task for the Russians and the long arm of the Chinese military the DF-41 rounds of the trio with a reported range of 14,000Km. Looking through the comparison chart one can see that even in this group the AGNI’s are the heftiest when it comes to Total weight at launch but the shortest when it comes to range. Now the only factor that stands out as restricting the range of the AGNI’s is the warhead weight, the AGNI-III has by far the heaviest warhead of the group weighing in at a whopping 2500Kgs compared to the more sedate 1500Kgs of its sibling that compares very favorably with the “Big Boys”. However this weight is that of a conventional warhead filled with high explosive. With a Nuclear device this should be much lower. If we assume that the Indian Nuclear weapons program is at least as developed as the American program was in the eighties(yes I’m giving them a thirty year lead on us) we should still be able to build warheads such as the W71,W62(with mark-12 reentry vehicle) and W85 which respectively weigh 1290kg,500Kg and 400kg.Which should mean that the payload is going to be a lot lighter for a missile with even three MIRV warheads of the W62 category with approximately the same kind of reentry vehicle.

TOPOL-M

Minuteman-III

DF-41

Another factor that could come into play for the reduced range (however unlikely) is that the AGNI series have incredibly inefficient engines that burn fuel at twice the rate of contemporary missiles. However in such a case the velocity of the missile should be a lot more than it’s contemporaries as well to compensate for the much larger quantity of exhaust gases and increased thrust of the engine. Even in such a case we see that as per the publicly available reported stats of the first AGNI V test in April 2012 the missile is believed to have travelled 5000Km approximately in a span of 1130 seconds i.e. achieving an average velocity of 4.24km/sec or around 4424.78/340.29 Mach = 13 Mach (disputable since the AGNI flies at an altitude of 100Km and velocity of sound taken is at sea level) , news reports also indicate that the AGNI V attained a velocity of up to 7,000mtrs/sec or around 20.5mach .similarly the Chinese DF-41 has an average velocity of 10-25Mach as well this also corresponds to the average velocity of all well known Missiles. Hence it is not the engines either.

I believe that for once shrewd and prudent decisions have been taken in our Ministry of defense and what we have in the AGNI III and AGNI V are quite possibly Full-Fledged ICBM’s masquerading as IRBM’s.Please note that all information used in this analyses has come from WIKIPEDIA and GOOGLE also as the exact thickness of the missile cylinder is unknown for all cases I have assumed that almost the entire launch weight shall be the Fuel weight. I rest my case!