Nirbhay Fiasco – no need to be disheartened

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By Lt Gen Prakash Katoch Published on February 18, 2017 1:01 am
Nirbhay Subsonic Cruise Mis
Nirbhay Fiasco – no need to be disheartened - © Indian Defence Review
Nirbhay Subsonic Cruise Missile

December 21, 2016 was bad day for India when the trial test of the nuclear-capable ‘Nirbhay’ long-range cruise missile failed for the third time. Ironically the missile has failed to achieve its failed parameters since March 2013. Like the previous tests, the third test also took place at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the coast of Odisha. According to DRDO officials, “The booster engine in Nirbhay’s first stage started working. The missile lifted off from its launcher. But it started veering dangerously towards one side in less than two minutes of its lift-off”, adding, “This is a hardware element issue. This is a reliability issue with a component. …. It is a big failure. We should have a thorough re-look at what has been done so far. Out of four Nirbhay missions, three have ended in failure.”

Nirbhay missile, once operational, will also likely be deployed aboard surface warships of the Indian Navy. DRDO is reportedly also working on developing an air-launched variant of the weapon system for the IAF.

The missile reportedly had to be destroyed mid-air after it deviated from its course. During the flight trial of this missile conducted on Octobe4 17, 2014, the missile reportedly travelled 1,010 kms while being monitored by the ground station and an IAF fighter jet. Nirbhay is a subsonic land attack cruise missile armed with a 300-kilogram warhead and capable of reaching speeds of 0.6-0.7 Mach. It is designed to be highly maneuverable, has loitering capabilities, and can be launched from air, sea, and land. India’s first domestically developed and built ballistic missile nuclear submarine (SSBN) class, the Arihant-class, is to be armed with the Nirbhay cruise missile. Nirbhay missile, once operational, will also likely be deployed aboard surface warships of the Indian Navy. DRDO is reportedly also working on developing an air-launched variant of the weapon system for the IAF.

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Government has now given an 18 month extension for the Nirbhay project over the missiles operational capabilities. Having been launched in 2004, completion date of the project was 31 December 2016. The Nirbhay team has been asked to complete the project by June, 2018. Under developmental trial since 2013, the missile is yet to perform as per the expectations. Meanwhile, an independent technical committee has been formed to identify faults in the system that led to failure of the missile during its fourth trial on December 21.

The probe committee led by Dr Nagarajan Vedachalam, founder director of ISRO’s Inertial System Unit, will identify the faults and make recommendations to rectify them and make the system robust. Such a probe should have actually been launched during previous failures, which could have been affected earlier rectification given the expertise of ISRO. In fact, probe apart, ISRO should have been involved in the project itself much earlier, right from its inception.

There is no reason to be disheartened with Nirbhay’s fiasco on last December. Developing a cruise missile by itself is a complex issue, and Nirbhay will match the world’s most advanced in its category.

According to an unnamed official of the Nirbhay project quoted by the media, the blame game between the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ARDE) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI), both laboratories of DRDO cost the project more than the faults in the system. ARDE, which designed the missile, has been blaming RCI for supplying defective hardware, while RCI blames ARDE developed software causing recurring failures.

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The Nirbhay project is about mastering cruise missile technology as much as it is about delivering a useable weapon to the armed forces. The Nirbhay subsonic cruise missile is to have: range exceeding 1,000 km; speed between 0.8 and 0.9 Mach; launch weight of 1,500 kg; length of 6 meters; carry conventional or nuclear warheads of 24 different types, and; fly at very low altitudes of 20 meters or less evading radar detection, using a terrain-following function facilitated by its onboard inertial navigation system.

There is no reason to be disheartened with Nirbhay’s fiasco on last December. Developing a cruise missile by itself is a complex issue, and Nirbhay will match the world’s most advanced in its category.

It is well known that even a country like China could develop a cruise missile only through reverse engineering after it picked up an unexploded American cruise missile aimed at Osama bin-Laden very many years ago. While Osama was saved having switched off his satellite phone and moving away, one of the three unexploded missile fell inside Pakistan, which China promptly picked up and copied.

India could have reverse engineered the BrahMos but refrained from doing so in deference to the agreement with Russia. There is every reason to believe that with ISRO’s involvement, Nirbhay will be delivered within the 18 months extension accorded to the project. It is quite amusing to note that soon after the Nirbhay test last December, Pakistan floated video clip of the test flight of its submarine launched Babur III missile, which appears to be nothing more than an animation fake.

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...there is no reason DRDO cannot come up with a successful Nirbhay flight-test in the near future, especially with ISRO integrated into the project.

On February 11, 2017 the DRDO successfully test-fired a interceptor missile off Odisha coast and achieved a significant milestone in the direction of developing a two-layered Ballistic Missile Defence system. This mission, termed as “PDV mission is for engaging the targets in the exo-atmosphere region at an altitude above 50 km of earth’s atmosphere”, as per the DRDO. The interceptor is based on the nuclear-capable Prithvi missile and the target was developed for mimicking a hostile Ballistic Missile approaching from more than 2,000 km away was launched from a ship anchored in the Bay of Bengal.

In an automated operation, radar based detection and tracking system detected and tracked the enemy’s ballistic missile. The computer network with the help of data received from radars predicted the trajectory of the incoming Ballistic Missile. The PDV that was kept fully ready, took-off once the computer system gave the necessary command for lift-off. Significantly, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is one of the recent additions to America’s anti-ballistic missile arsenal; designed to intercept incoming missiles at the maximum altitude of 93 miles above the surface of the Earth.

India’s successful interceptor test brings the country closer to developing a robust BMD. With this feather under its cap, there is no reason DRDO cannot come up with a successful Nirbhay flight-test in the near future, especially with ISRO integrated into the project. The Nirbhay missile, together with the BrahMos, Agni-V and suchlike weaponry in India’s arsenal, should deter our adversaries from mischief.

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