Tech wise, it's a tactical system. Nothing we couldn't build on our own in a couple of years. My point was the US would restrict transfer of N-capable missile tech (if LORA could do that) to us since we are outside of the gora club (NATO and Five Eyes).
That grey camo missile which was shown beside Rudram 3 model that was pictured in the aero/defexpo, was that Prahaar ? Kinda odd that no info is available anywhere anymore on it, except the old 2020 export booklet containing the Pragati mention. Our armed forces may not like it, but it could have had some export deals if not too pricey ? Armenia bought pinaka, but they could have used this more than Pralay which the media say is on offer to them?
EDIT: this one
I think you're right. That does look like Prahar, judging from the tail fin configuration. IIRC, we'd even pitched an export-version (S2S) at an international airshow/def expo (Singapore?) some years back. Then the system just vanished from sight. But looks like the IA is using it, after all.
That was in drdo model show, not IA. There is no visible or otherwise proof yet for IA having inducted it.
With the above missiles, MKI will become our Day 1 "break the door" SEAD/DEAD fighter. It's amazing how far we've evolved the MKI even well beyond what the Russians have done with their Su-30SM/Su-35S. In fact, with the above anti-radiation/air-to-surface missiles, MKI's offensive capabilities have surpassed even that of the Rafale(as it lacks a SEAD weapon at the moment).There may be busy days or sudden loud noise creating panic soon , who knows@Rajput Lion
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@randomradio, @Picdelamirand-oil, @Bon Plan, @Amarante
What's your take on the above(MKI vs Rafale in SEAD role??)
IA has rejected Prahaar because of its 150 kms range. Now DRDO is readying Prahaar 2 renamed as Pranash. The latter is to have 200kms range.
Having said that, now since we're looking for 300kms range Pinaka rockets, I don't know whether IA will ever induct Prahaar/Pranash or not
The long range guided rocket project is of 300mm dia unless we are mistaken. Prahaar was 400mm+ dia class, probably a bit more. There is some mystery there, maybe IA was not happy with its payload 200kg warhead ? or some other navigation or otherwise. That project is in a mystery status. Maybe the rocket force idea was not looked upon favourably by the army. With a joint command structure it can change.
The Import Army don't have any intellectual capability of what they want. They don't know the difference between Tactical Rocket Force and Strategic Rocket Force. Heck, the top brass whether the DRDO or MoD or Indian Forces, they constructed an Ivory tower and locked themselves in without looking what's going on elsewhere.
A True Conventional Rocket Force should stay deep inside our territories at beyond some 500km range and also target enemy deep into their territories at some 500km so that it won't itself be strike first by enemy MLRS or the enemy need disproportionately larger assets of his own to neutralize our own assets. If Indian Top brass is smart they realize that Chinese Bases hosting their Fighter Jets, Tankers are true threats and a Deep Strike Rocket Force is one of the best bang for buck while we wait for AMCA. Even if we take losses if Chinese strike first, our Conventional Rocket Force holds deterrence enough that their entire bases will get obliterated. The components should be
(Iam giving examples and these are equivalents we should have)
Subsonic
1. Tomahawk like Cruise Missile for 1000+km range (Don't know what happened to Nirbhay)
2. A Even bigger Tomahawk or Kalibr kind of missile with 2000+km range
Supersonic
1. Brahmos
Hypersonic
1. Unboosted glide vehicle at some 1500km like DF-ZF
2. Boosted glide vehicle at some 1500km like opfires of USA
3. Unboosted glide vehicle at some 3500km like LRHW of USA - this kind of missile gives us best capability to strike deep into enemy territory while staying in central india.
Ballistic MARV
1. DF-21 for range of like 1500km
2. DF-26 for range of like 5000km(we can target every base in china with this via a conventional warhead and china knows even if we fire them we won't use a nuclear warhead due to no first use policy)
Quasi Ballistic (Stays inside atmosphere <50km)
1. Precision Strike / LORA equivalent 500km range
2. PRALAY(1000km range) this one thing we got right.
The above are for strategic rocket force. A tactical rocket force like chunmoo or HIMARS with upcoming precision strike missile perhaps extend range to atmost 500km but they are not true rocket force. Perhaps UN Genrols thought rocket force is just rockets in MLRS and not deep strike. If only they inherited some intellectual capability from foreign militaries along with foreign maal.
Limited service of Prahaar ? What's that supposed to mean ? And those launch vehicles , is each such launch vehicle quad packed or does each vehicle contain 8 such missiles to launch ?
We do need rockets both guided & unguided to fire at a max distance of 500 kms in both individual & salvo mode .
As in a small lsp batch type, that is token induction and not cleared for general use across all the terrains and sectors like the pinaka ,akash etc systems. The board mentioned 2 per vehicle and reload timing between launches is less than 30 mins.
Perfect candidate for sale to Armenia, the Prahar, imo. It's a mature weapon since it's a Ashwin/AAD derivative. Likely retains ARH seeker too. Imo, we should offer the Prahar, not the Pralay for export, since the latter has more sensitive tech. God forbid, if the Pralay falls into the hands of the Azeri's, we could have serious problems. Unless, we develop an export-version with all the key electronic components sanitized.
An export sale will hopefully spur the IA to re-evaluate/sign-up for the missile. What's clear is we need heavier, tactical ground launched missiles to place Chinese border targets at risk - hundreds of them
Don't think it will happen, Pinaka MBRL has already been widely adopted and standardised by the Army with more orders in the pipeline.Next item in wish list of import khor generals.
Also, HIMARS doesn't offer any real benefits over the Pinaka except for maybe the ability to fire ATACMS & PrSM.
Regular induction for years , over 10 billions worth are bought so far. This is one successful project that yielded high return & still going strong.
That said it is always helpful to diverse your resource. Big reason why the old gears are also often upgraded till its almost falling apart in military terms, despite replacements flowing in and new systems are bought. Wartime consumption can never be fully pre planned.
That said it is always helpful to diverse your resource. Big reason why the old gears are also often upgraded till its almost falling apart in military terms, despite replacements flowing in and new systems are bought. Wartime consumption can never be fully pre planned.
If they can sabotage whap, qrsam & ATAGS then they can do anything.
Same Modularity concept will be used as an excuse.
With pvt players like Solar Industries jumping into the fray, Pinaka QC issues are a thing of the past. Multiple production lines at Tata and L&T for the launchers provide a certain level of redundancy and the military seems to favour them over OFB.
At least when it comes to land forces equipment where India has enough capacity within its borders, foriegn supply chains shouldn't be tapped into, imo. Our private players need all the business they can get.