Our program progress seems to be either kept very secret (already multiple flights with range over 400km done) or its having issue re engine (we have the other subsystems done well) and further confirmatory tests. The ITCM launcher related sow makes it clear about timeline & trial till 2025 part. SLCM also seems to have both antiship & land attack versions as a torpedo tube launched system , so there must be some progress ?
This is a turbojet, Manik is turbofan.Turkish recently tested Atmaca anti-ship missile with their own KTJ-3200 engine giving 3.2 kn thrust. Missile diameter is 350mm and engine 300mm. We will need this class of engine very soon. Our STFE is similar but weights 100kg+.
They initially went for the lower end of cruise missiles, but we began with long-range Tomahawk-like systems. It would be interesting to see the evolution of NASM-MR; I hope it has a turbofan.
My bad, but the point stands. We need smaller engines to power different use cases.
So 120km and 300km rockit force additions are more of less confirmed (check Pinaka thread pls) , and modular enough to be used in existing pinaka system, LRGR is 300mm. 120km version is likely guided pinaka range extension. So the rocket force is gradually shaping up. Hope army inducts Prahaar weapon system too eventually. @Rajput Lion
for ref
for ref
A good number of turbine engines are under development in the private sector. Been tracking them for some time:
GoI needs to do their bit to support them.
Yeah, I saw those too. Tenders were for fabrication of engine parts. Meaning design phase is over & we are headed for testing. No new info. since then. Hopefully we see tests soon.
Huge tender on STAR project out. It is to have LV and CV like HSTDV as well as canisterisation. Will pass on the doc.
Astra 2 has already entered LSP mode while Rudram 2 will follow suit soon, IMO.
Tender is out for fabrication of around 15 LSP units for user trials. I think @marich01 has already posted it in this thread itself sometime back, IIRC.
Anyways @1:20 mark onwards:
A YouTuber who does not provide source of test firing is not a source.
They are yet to mature even to reach user trials. Long road ahead till production orders.
Even if those 15 units were for Dev/User trails, yet quite a lot of time has passed now and LSP won't be that far off.
This tweet was made in Apr. 30, 2023 and now we're almost reaching April 2024. So literally one year has passed from the time of the tweet.
Yes, that's how Indian R&D goes. There can be defects on items, changes in requirement or even failure that they don't go public.
For example, I was following the NPOL ALTAS sonar program since 2012. It underwent user trials after placing orders with MSMEs like Keltron. The last news we heard about it was in 2019 when NPOL requested EoI from industry partners. Then suddenly, a CAG report revealed the project's closure last year.
Or How many times has the NAG been declared a success? And where is it now?
Don't be certain about things in development. You will never know.
Astra is a mission mode project that's why its progress has been kept silent from the media by both GOI & DRDO. We haven't even heard/read a single report about its test firing, but it's common logic to guess that it has already been test fired. Alpha Defense has proven to be quite reliable till now, so I tend to trust him.