IAF wants 50 swift & sure Sudarshan LGBs from ADE | Scientists at it to get CEP within 3-5 meters

By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service

Bangalore: After series of flight trials, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has asked the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), to make 50 laser-guided bombs (LGBs) -- Sudarshan. These dumb bombs (Mark 11 N bombs), hitherto part of IAF’s vintage ammunition, is getting a life-extension with ADE’s help, with an improvised range and strike capabilities.
The ADE won the project for developing an LGB seven years back and subsequently successfully demonstrated the capabilities to the IAF during differed flight trials in 2010. It was also dropped from a Jaguar as part of the user trial in Pokhran, the same year. “Our mission was to develop an advanced laser guidance kit for 1000 lb class dumb bombs, so as to improve the accuracy. We demonstrated the same and now the IAF has asked us to make 50 Sudarshans,” ADE director P S Krishnan told Express on Tuesday.
Krishnan says the laser-guidance seeker, fitted on the nose of the LGB, is the most critical desi component onboard. “It’s developed jointly by IIT Delhi and ADE, while BEL is the production agency. The guidance kit directs the bomb towards a target, which has been illuminated by laser energy using a laser designator (LD) system. The laser energy is reflected from the target and detected by the laser seeker unit on the LGB kit. The seeker provides information on the deviation of the laser spot from the centre line of the detector. The control system processes this information and generates suitable deflections on the canard surfaces to effect changes in bomb trajectory thereby guiding the bomb to the target,” he explained the features of the bomb.
Sudarshan has onboard a flight control computer with MEMS-based (microelectromechanical systems) rate gyros. It also has high-precision linear ball-lead-screw actuators (to move the control surface). The four tail fins get deployed during the flight. A next-generation bomb (NG-LGB) studded with new technologies is in the pipeline, but the scientists need to address the problem of rolling of the bomb, after its release. “The range of Sudrashan now is around 9 km, if dropped from a normal altitude, and for the NG-LGB we hope to increase the range to 50 km,” he said.
The IAF wants the circular error probability (CEP) of the LGB between 3 to 5 meters and ADE scientists are now working to achieve the same. Currently the CEP for Sudarshan is within the 10 meters. (CEP is measurement of a weapon’s precision.) In addition to the Jaguars and the Mig-27s, in future Sudarshan can be fitted on to Tejas too.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

TARMAK007@FB