India's Defence Research Development Organisation has unveiled the Astra long-range active radar guided missile. The research organisation claims the weapon could be test fired for the first time next year.
The 3.8m (12.4ft)-long weapon weighs 148kg (325lb), including a 15kg prefragmented warhead triggered by a radio frequency proximity fuse. The missile use inertial midcourse guidance updates, with terminal homing by active radar seeker. The weapon is similar in appearance to a stretched Matra 530 with four long cruciform short-chord wings and four small tail fins close behind.
The missile body is 178mm in diameter in the rear section, narrowing to 160mm just ahead of the wings. The Indians say 85% of the technology was derived locally.
The weapon is destined to be carried by the locally developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which despite being rolled out three years ago has still not made its maiden flight and was not displayed at the Aero India show.
The latest schedule being offered for the first flight of the LCA is 1999. The first aircraft is said to be destined for a mid-year maiden flight with a second aircraft joining the test programme later in the year.
The Indian Government claims that the sanctions imposed on India by the US Administration in the wake of the nuclear weapon tests conducted earlier this year have had only marginal affect. Lockheed Martin was helping iron out problems on the flight controls before Indian engineers were ordered to leave the US company, while General Electric is supplying engines for the prototype as India develops its own Kaveri engine for production versions.
Production is due to start in 2003, although based on the speed of progress to date this seems unlikely, say Western observers.
The Kaveri engine has completed 840h of ground testing, around one-third of the programme. It is to be test flown in Russia.
Source: Flight International