DTN News: India Clears Anti-Tank Nag Missile For Production

DTN News: India Clears Anti-Tank Nag Missile For Production *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - July 9, 2009: Two decades after the homegrown Nag anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) was conceived, it has been cleared for production. The ATGM was indigenously designed and developed by the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation [DRDO]. The Nag (Cobra) is a third generation, all weather, top-attack, fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile. It is one of five missile systems developed by the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP). Design work on the missile started in 1988 and the first tests were carried out in November 1990. The missile uses a tandem HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) warhead to penetrate ERA (Explosive Reactive Armour) or composite (Chobham type) armour that is found in the latest tanks. The system is expected to supercede Indian production of the Soviet origin 9K113 Konkours (NATO: AT-5 Spandrel) and Euromissile Milan M2 anti-tank missiles. Technical Characteristics ~ As originally conceived, the Nag would have been available with three different types of guidance, These included a wire guided version, an infra-red version and a millimetric wave (mmW) version. The cumbersome nature of a wire guidance system had led to plans for this being dropped. Currently, guidance is based on an imaging infra-red (IIR) passive seeker that ensures a high-hit accuracy in both top- and front-attack modes. The mmW seeker, on the other hand, is intended to operate as an optional system that can replace the IIR passive seeker as a module. Also incorporated into the guidance system, is a CCD camera. The missile has a weight of 42 kg and can engage targets at ranges up to 6 km. The Nag is claimed to be first anti-tank missile which has a complete fiberglass structure. The Nag will be produced in two main versions. The land version has been tested from a tracked vehicle known as NAMICA (Nag Missile Carrier). The carrier is a stretched BMP-2 with an additional pair of road wheels and is manufactured by the Ordnance Factory, Medak. It carries four missiles in a ready-to-fire mode on the turret and more missiles can be reloaded without exposing the crew on the battlefield. With the IR version of the missile, targets are acquired using a thermal sight, and are then assigned to the nose-mounted IIR seeker. Missile guidance is initially by area correlation around the target, then by centroid tracking. Terminal homing is by area correlation around the centroid. Nag is also configured to be used on the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). Eight missiles are carried in two quadruple launchers. Launchers mounted on either side are linked to a nose-mounted stabilized thermal sight and a laser range-finder package. The 4-kilometer-range missile will be produced at state-owned Bharat Dynamics, which will make about 200 missiles in the first year and double that number in following years. The Indian defense forces require about 4,000 ATGMs. The production of the Nag missile was ordered early this month after successful heat trials in the Rajasthan desert, said a senior Indian Army official. The winter trials of the missile were concluded last December. All the user tests of the Nag missile have been completed and the Army has given its approval, said a senior DRDO scientist. The latest trials of the Nag missile were conducted using an advanced imaging infrared seeker head, one of the Army's essential requirements, the Army official added. The Nag will replace the existing Russian Konkours and European missile Milan, both of which are manufactured under license by Bharat. The Army urgently needs the more advanced Nag to improve kill probability as the missile uses a high explosive warhead to penetrate the armor found in modern tanks, the official said. The Nag missile will be made in land and helicopter versions, where it will be fitted on the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter, although the current order is only for the land variant. The Nag is a third-generation, all-weather, top-attack, fire-and-forget missile, one of five missile systems developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. Design work started in 1988 and the first tests were carried out in November 1990. The DRDO scientist said focus will now shift to the helicopter version, which will have an extended range of seven kilometers. The air version will be completed in two years, added the scientist. The land version also eventually will have a range of seven kilometers.