Missile scientists begin probe into aborted Nirbhay mission

By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service

Hyderabad:  Over hundred missile scientists in Bangalore and Hyderabad have begun their investigations in the form of post-flight analysis of the aborted mission of India’s first subsonic cruise missile, Nirbhay, recently. Sources confirmed to Express on Saturday that the missile had successfully navigated two way-points during its 19-minute flight.

As reported by Express earlier, the preliminary investigations have found that the missile’s vertical lift-off, booster performance, control actuators, ignition of engine, and wing deployment performed as per the text-book format. “We found no shocks  or jerks during the deployment of wings. The entire avionics functioned normally. The missile navigated through first two way-points. The missile drifted from the path due to the improper functioning of one of the electronic sub-systems,” sources said.

While all the new technologies onboard the missile is said to have done their duties, what’s worrying the DRDO scientists is that a proven system might have given up at the crucial time. “The radars located at Chandipur, Dhamra, Wheeler’s Island, Paradeep, Puri (near Konark) and Gopalpur tracked the missile. For the first time, we have had a chase aircraft in the form of a Sukhoi following the missile. The Sukhoi gave us the exact location where the missile fell after the mission was aborted,” sources said.

The scientists have planned eight to 10 way-points for the missile for its full duration (one hour, approximately 1000 km) of the flight. While DRDO refuses to accept it as a failure, considering that all systems developed for the cruise vehicle have functioned till the time the mission was aborted. “We will be able to find out the exact cause soon and we have nothing to hide. Another Nirbhay should be ready for flight within six months. Some work has been going on in various labs for the next mission,” sources said.

Copyright@The New Indian Express 

DRDO draws inspiration from aborted Nirbhay mission | Next launch in 8 months: Avinash | Intentionally missile flown closer to coast for tracking: Sources

 By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore:  Nirbhay, India’s first subsonic cruise missile had a bad outing on Tuesday, after scientists terminated its maiden test-firing 20-minutes into its mission. Celebrated as Bangalore’s first missile, Nirbhay travelled almost 250 km towards the target after the launch, but a technical snag dented its designated flight path, forcing the Range Safety Wing at the Interim Test Range (ITR) in Balasore to abort the mission. (Termination or abortion is done by switching off the engine.)

Designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) in C V Raman Nagar, Nirbhay’s failure is now being dubbed as ‘partial success’ by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). “The lift-off from the canister, the booster separation, ignition of cruise vehicle engine at high altitude, wing deployment, control guidance and way-point navigation capabilities have been proven. For a missile designers these are crucial milestones achieved,” Avinash Chander, Chief Controller (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO told Express from Bhuvaneshwar.

He claimed that for a first flight, the objectives achieved are encouraging. “We were able to launch it as a missile first, then convert show its longevity as an aircraft. We will study what went wrong and get back with another missile within six-eight months so as to go the full distance. We have enough data from this flight and we have tested all stages of the missile, which was very crucial,” Avinash said.

A top source who didn’t want to be identified said that the missile was travelling closer to the Odhisa cost. “We intentionally designated the path closer to the coast so that we could track it. But when it started deviating, we had to abort the mission taking into account the safety of the coast. It will take a week to assess which part malfunctioned and the initial data analysis will tell us more,” the official said.

ADE Director P S Krishnan said that his team will ensure that everything falls in place next time. “Nirbhay met 90 per cent of its mission parameters. It was the first test and we will quickly find out from the data which part gave up. We will fix it and prove the missile’s full-duration (1000 km) capabilities,” Krishnan said.

DRDO’s decision to go undercover till the launch of the missile is attributed mainly to the snub it received for letting out too many details of sensitive projects. A senior military intelligence official said that DRDO was warned twice in the recent past, a fact Express couldn't verify independently.Copyright@The New Indian Express
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Breaking on Tarmak007 | Nirbhay terminated mid-way for the safety of the coast: DRDO

(Updated@1:38 pm)

India's maiden test-firing of Nirbhay subsonic cruise missile ended on a sad note with the scientists deciding to terminate it, 20 minutes after it was launched.  "All systems onboard the missiles performed perfectly for the first 20 minutes. The radars, tracking the missile, reported good health till then. But after 20 minutes, the missile drifted away from the path," sources said.

It is definitely a blow for ADE, which was handed the project outside the Missile Complex in Hyderabad. "We had to terminate the mission taking into account the safety of the coast," sources said.

An official release from DRDO Media head Dr Ravi Gupta issued at 1:28 pm said: "Long range cruise missile Nirbhay was successfully launched today at 11:50 hrs from launch complex, Chandipur, Odisha,  meeting the basic mission objectives successfully.  After traveling approximately mid-way, deviations were observed from its intended course.  Further, flight was terminated to ensure coastal safety."

Sources told Tarmak007 that the booster, mechanical systems, engine, all avionics and the wing deployment were all intact till the first 20 minutes. Once we noticed that the missile was drifting fast we decided to abort the mission. There could be some malfunction of some component. We will know it soon," sources said.