DRDO Successfully Flight Tests Anti-Radiation Missile (Rudram)

• 10 Oct 2020

The Defence Research and Development Organisation conducted a successful flight test of the indigenously developed New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (NGARM) also called the ‘Rudram’ at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore, Odisha.

What are Anti-Radiation Missiles?

• Anti-radiation missiles” are designed to detect, locate, and destroy enemy air defence radars; they are often carried by specialist aircraft that accompany airstrikes to perform the SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) mission.

This capability with other Countries

• Now, India joined the likes of the United States, Russia, Brazil, China, United Kingdom and Iran who all have indigenous ARM missiles in their armoury.

About immediate Foes

• Pakistan has bought MAR-1 Missiles from Brazil in 2008 and China has its own systems.

About NGARM

• It is capable of striking radiation-emitting targets within a range of 250 km.
• It hasa launch speed of up to 2 Mach, twice the speed of sound.
• 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.

Advantages

• The specialised weapon is aimed to provide tactical air superiority in warfare.
• Missile guidance and navigation toward its target while the missile is on course take place through continuous inputs from sensors and passive homing seeker technology.
• Suppression of radar system will enable India's jets to carry out missions without having to worry about facing threats from radar-guided surface-to-air missiles.