Prahaar awaits Army intent; DRDO luring IAF, Navy

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore/Hyderabad: Prahaar in Sanskrit stands for 'Strike.' And, it struck where it matters the most during its maiden launch in July this year. Kept under wraps until then, Prahaar is an offshoot of India's Air Defence (AD) programme, with the scientists converting the endo-atmospheric interceptor, into a brand new tactical battlefield support missile. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) launched the project sans sanctions (no user requirements and approved budgets) in July 2010.  One year later, the missile with a range of 150 km was successfully demonstrated to the Indian Army.

Tough to be detected owing to its high maneuvering capabilities, Prahaar is a quick reaction missile, which can be used against targets between 50-150 km. Currently the DRDO is in talks with the Indian Army on the deployment philosophies and their needs, apart from generating confidence of the user, which is always a commodity in short supply. DRDO claims that the user 'has shown a lot of interest' taking into account its cost-effectiveness and the sheer numbers by which it can be fielded.

“The futuristic tactical operations will increasingly require long-range stand-off weapons with high accuracy and short reaction time to neutralize time critical targets. Prahaar can be be adapted to existing maritime platform as well as to an aircraft increasing its utility. It can neutralize the identified targets, provide effective counter force system and serve as an affordable solution to the future battlefield requirements,” sources said.

The missile is capable of carrying multiple warheads, has very fast reaction capability from mission command to execute the launch. “With all weather, day and  night launch capability, Prahaar's range, if launched from an aircraft (read as Sukhoi), can be extended up to 350 km. This is quite feasible as the missile has less weight, diameter and radar cross section. As of now, we are waiting for a Letter of Intent (LoI) from the Army,” sources said.

Once the Army gives the LoI, the missile will have to undergo 10-12 trials to fine tune its effectiveness with

different warheads.  “The missiles are controlled and guided from lift off to impact and maneuver continuously so that the prediction of both launch point and impact point are difficult. Multiple launchers can be linked together to form a missile battery to deliver simultaneous multi-axis saturation attack on the target,” sources said.

Prahaar is capable of carrying a variety of warheads like pre-fragmented, incendiary sub-munitions, runway-denial sub-munitions, smart munitions and thermobaric (a fuel-air bomb, which produces a blast wave for longer period) warheads. Since the missile uses solid propulsion systems, it can be put on a ready-to-launch-mode quickly. It's a zero maintenance, road-mobile system developed by young AD scientists in the average age-group of 35 years.

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More photos from Prahaar launch site

DRDO hopes to impress Army with Prahaar punch; demo launch of tactical missile on July 21

Prahaar tactical missile will look the same as above, barring the writing on it and for some component(s). It is a spin-off of endo-atmospheric interceptor used for AD programme (above). Prahaar's minimum range is 50 km and maximum is 150 km. Photos: Tarmak007 Archives

The Launch Complex (LC-III) of the Interim Test Range (ITR) in Balasore (Orissa) is all set  for the maiden launch of India’s new tactical missile Prahaar. Sources confirm to Tarmak007 that this short-range missile is capable of hitting targets at a minimum distance of 50 km and maximum of 150 km.“Today we don’t have a good tactical missile for any conventional role. The Russian-made Smerch has a range of 90 km. Prahaar will be in the 90-plus-km-class, capable of carrying a payload of 200-250 kg,” sources tell Tarmak007. Prahaar is an offshoot of India’s AD programme. “It is a spin-off programme – a conversion of endo-atmospheric interceptor used for the AD,” sources said.

DRDO hopes to get a formal sanction for the programme subject to the successive launch of the first missile on July 21. “The programme is not yet sanctioned. What we are attempting is a demonstration launch for the user and only one missile will be tested. We will take the inputs from the user (Army) and make the necessary modifications needed. Then we will go for the final sanction,” sources said.

So what makes Prahaar different? Well, if one were go by what insiders tell Tarmak007 then Prahaar is an extremely cost-effective missile. It will be much cheaper than the BrahMos cruise missile. Since it uses solid propulsion systems, it will be on a ready-for-launch-mode any time. There won’t be any storage issues and the missile will be completely maintenance-free, taking it out of the periodic-checking issues. Load it on to a Canister system and fire it!

Being a road-mobile system, Prahaar can hit multiple targets at a time with the canister system (launcher) able to hold a maximum of 6 missiles. “All components and critical systems for this missile are available in India and it can be produced in large numbers at very short notice making it extremely cost-effective,” sources said.

“We have set a target in sea. Weather is not a concern and we have taken all necessary precautions. Just that clear weather would give us good data. For example, optical tracking will not be possible if it is cloudy. But, we have other options like telemetry and radar tracking,” sources added.

Close to 50 scientists and engineers, including many youngsters, have worked for the Prahaar project.