Astra Missile : Recent Update
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has given clearance to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) to produce 200 Astra air-to-air missiles for its Su-3O and LCA Tejas fighter aircraft.
- Astra Missile is a Beyond-Visual-Range (BVR) air-to-air missile designed to be mounted on fighter aircraft.
- It is indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
- The missile was built to engage and destroy aerial targets, which have high maneuverability and supersonic speed.
- The missile is capable of advanced air combat, which allows it to engage in multiple high-performance targets.
- It is the best in its class of weapon systems in the world in the category of air-to-air missiles.
- The missile is being developed in multiple variants to meet specific requirements.
- Astra is 3.6 m long and with a diameter of 178 mm, weighing 154 kg.
- It has a range of 80 to 110 km in a head-on chase and can travel at 5 Mach speed (almost hypersonic).
- The missile uses an inertial guidance system driven by a fibre optic gyroscope with terminal guidance through active radar homing.
- It offers the pilot the option to choose between “Lock on Before Launch – LOBL” and “Lock on After Launch – LOAL” and later allows the aircraft to shoot and scoot to safety after firing the missile in the direction of the target.
- It is based on an advanced solid-fuel ducted ramjet (SFDR) engine technology.
- It is capable of operating under all weather conditions, both day and night and offers high overall reliability and a very high ”Single Shot Kill Probability – SSKP”.
