DRDO successfully test-fires anti-radiation missile, Rudram
09 Oct 2020
India today successfully test-fired new generation anti-radiation missile (Rudram) onto a radiation target located on Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha. The missile was launched from an SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft.
The Rudram hit the radiation target with pin-point accuracy, says a defence ministry release.
Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Rudram is the first indigenous anti-radiation missile for Indian Air Force (IAF), and is being integrated on SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft as the launch platform.
Rudram has the capability of varying ranges based on launch conditions. It has INS-GPS navigation with passive homing head for the final attack.
The passive homing head can detect, classify and engage targets over a wide band of frequencies as programmed. The missile is a potent weapon for IAF for suppression of enemy air defence effectively from large stand-off ranges.
With this, the country has established indigenous capability to develop long range air launched anti-radiation missiles for neutralising enemy radars, communication sites and other RF emitting targets.
This first-of-its-kind missile in the IAF arsenal, Rudram can be integrated with Mirage 2000, Jaguar, HAL Tejas.
This new-generation anti-radiation missile (NGARM) with a strike range of around 100 to 150 km is the first indigenous air-to-ground missile developed by the DRDO, after the supersonic BrahMos, which has been developed jointly with Russia.
The single-stage missile weighs 140 kg and is powered by a dual-pulsed solid rocket motor.
The missile uses pre-fragmented warhead with an optical proximity fuze. The home-grown missile is expected to create a surveillance gap in the enemy territory.