India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has revealed details of its locally developed naval anti-ship missile, which can hit a target up to 55 km away. The solid rocket motor propulsion missile will be guided by a terminal IIR seeker and hit the target at a speed of 0.8 Mach (subsonic speed).
The DRDO said that the missile is being developed for Sea King helicopters which are operated from both Godavari and Brahmaputra class warships.
The Indian Navy plans to replace the decades-old multi-role naval Sea King helicopters with American MH-60R multirole helicopters. Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh said in December that a deal should be agreed shortly with the US government.
T heIndian Navy currently uses BrahMos, Russian-made Kh-35 and 3M Klub anti-ship missile variants for its warships. The navy also acquired American-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles to arm its German HDW-class submarines and Boeing P-8I aircraft.
It seems likely that the navy will purchase over 1,000 anti-ship missiles worth over $1 billion during the next five years to equip Delhi-class destroyers, Kora-class missile corvettes and other major warships.
In 2017, the Indian Defence Ministry launched first-ever tender for anti-ship missiles worth around $1 billion. It invited interest from global manufacturers in supplying about 270 combat, 40 practice, 10 training, 6 dummy and 4 cut section medium-range anti-ship missiles.
