History:-
In the 1970s The Defense Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) started a project the Devil and the Valiant.
The project Devil was aimed to produce short-range Surface to air missiles.
The project Valiant was aimed to produce long-range Ballistic missiles. Both projects consider failures. Project Valiant terminated in 1974 and the project Devil ended in 1980.
India fails but not lose hope.
Then came IGMDP
Integrated Guided Missile Development Program was launched in 1983 to develop five missile systems in the country. This program was created under Abdul Kalam Sir.
This project was aimed to produce intermediate-range surface to surface missiles. Trishul, Akash, Nag, Prithvi, and Agni-1 was their missile names. Now India has Agni 5 and 6. Agni 6 range is 12,000 KM.
Nag Missile (“fire and forget concept” anti-tank missile)
Trishul Missile (Surface to air operational range 9 km)
Akash Missile (medium-range surface to air 30 km)
Agni 6
In the 1990s, the program was expanded to develop the long-range Agni missile, Sagarika missile (ballistic missile), Surya (the medium-range version of the Agniballastic missile) and Dhanush missile.
In 2008, the DRDO announced the successful completion of the program.
First, you need to understand what is Ballistic missile and Cruise missile.
When we think about missiles the image of that picture was Cruise missiles. The cruise missile is for the accurate target. For a particular point. The cruise missile has wings and ballistic missiles don’t have. So whenever you see wings that means this is the cruise missile.
The cruise missile holds fuel until it reaches the target.
The ballistic missile is big in size. It follows a ballistic trajectory, a cruise missile doesn’t. The ballistic missile fired into the air and once it’s run out of fuel goes down to the target. Just shown as pictures.
K missile Series
This is a missile that can be launched from underwater. The K family of missiles is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). They are being developed to provide second-strike capabilities and thus the nuclear deterrence.
There are three variants.
K-15 has a 750 km range.
K-4 missile has two sub-variants, one with 3,500 km and the other is a 5,000 km range.
K-5 has a range of 6,000 km.
The K family of missiles is used with nuclear powered Arihant class submarines.
Now, we need to know about missiles speed. There are Subsonic, Supersonic, and Hypersonic. Speed of missile is measured by speed of sound.
The speed of sound is Mach 1 (1200km).
The one that travels less than the speed of sound is Subsonic that means below Mach 1. The one who travels more than the speed of sound is Supersonic (above Mach 1). Above Mach 5 is called Hypersonic.
BrahMos missile
BrahMos is a Supersonic and Hypersonic cruise missile is designed and developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture of India and Russia. The BrahMos name is formed from two rivers one is Brahmaputra of India and Moskva of Russia.
BrahMos 1 missile information
It is a very dangerous missile. It can fire from land, sea, sub-sea, and air. It is capable of carrying a warhead of 300 km even nuclear warhead. It can be launched from Ships, Land, and Submarines.
It has a top supersonic speed of Mach 3. It is a two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one Ramjet liquid propellant.
BrahMos 2 missile information
BrahMos 2 is a upgrade version. It is a Hypersonic cruise missile and it is the second of the BrahMos series. It is expected to have a range of 450 km and the speed is Mach 7 (nearly 8,600).
It is powered by a Scramjet engine instead of Ramjet. Ramjet is a liquid base engine and Scramjet is an airbreathing jet engine. The weight has reduced due to the scramjet engine, that’s why this missile has increased at a greater speed.
Nirbhay Missile
It is a long-range Subsonic missile. It is a low altitude missile. It can evade detection by Radars. The speed of Nirbhay missile is 700 km. It is also capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
In this missile a fire and forgets system which can not jammed by the enemy