ASTRA MISSILE
WHY IN NEWS ?
- Recently, the indigenous Astra air-to-air missile was successfully tested from the home-grown Tejas fighter for the first time.
ABOUT ASTRA MISSILE:
- ASTRA, a state-of-the-art BVR air-to-air missile to engage and destroy highly maneuvering supersonic aerial targets.
- It is designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and other laboratories of DRDO.
- The indigenous Astra BVR firing from home grown Tejas fighter is a major step towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
- Astra Mk-1 is 3.6 m (12 ft) long with a diameter of 178 mm (7.0 in) and weighs 154 kg (340 lb).
- It uses mid-course inertial guidance driven by fibre-optic gyroscope with terminal guidance through active radar homing.
- It is capable of receiving course corrections through a secure data link.
FEATURES:
- Range : 80 -110 km
- Altitude : up to 20 km
- Length : 3840 mm
- Diameter : 178 mm
- Flight Duration : 100 – 120 Sec
- Warhead : HE Pre Fragmented
- Max Speed : Mach 4.5
- Propulsion : Solid Rocket Motor
- Detonation Mechanism : Radar proximity Fuse.
- Guidance : Inertial, mid-course update and terminal active radar homing (13 km)
- Launch platform : Su-30 MKI
MORE ABOUT THE NEWS :
- The Astra-1, which has a beyond visual range of 100-km, was test-fired from the Tejas jet at an altitude of around 20,000-feet off the coast of Goa.
- All the objectives of the test were met and it was a perfect text book launch.
- The state-of-the-art Astra can engage and destroy highly manoeuvring supersonic aerial targets.
- The Astra-1, which flies at over four times the speed of sound at Mach 4.5, is already under production by Bharat Dynamics after the successful completion of its user trials from Sukhoi-30MKI fighters.
- The IAF has already placed an initial order for 250 Astra-1 missiles, while DRDO is developing an Astra-2 missile with a 160-km range.
SYLLABUS: PRELIMS, CURRENT AFFAIRS
