Indian Missiles
Historical Background:
» Mysorean rockets were the first iron-cased rockets that were successfully deployed for military use.
» Hyder Ali, the 18th-century ruler of Mysore, and his son and successor, Tipu Sultan used them effectively against the British East India Company.
» Realising the importance of guided missile weapon systems in the modern warfare, a Special Weapon Development Team (SWDT) was formed in 1958. This team was later expanded into DRDL.
» In the 1970s, the Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) undertook the Project Devil and Project Valiant.
» The Project Devil was aimed to produce short-range surface-to-air missile.
» The project Valiant was aimed to produce long-range ballistic missile.
» Both Projects were considered failures.
» Project Valiant was terminated in 1974 and Project Devil ended in 1980.
Types of Missiles:
1. Ballisitc Missiles
2. Cruise Missiles
Ballistic Missile
A ballistic missile is a missile (rocket) that follows a ballistic trajectory with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target. These missiles are guided for the brief duration just in starting phase of trajectory and the rest of the path is like a free falling projectile under gravity.
Examples: All the variants of Prithvi are SRBMs while Agni-I to Agni-IV are IRBM while Agni V and Agni VI are ICBMs
Ballistic missiles, based on launch mode can be classified as:
Surface-to-Surface Missile, Surface-to-Air Missile, Surface to-Sea Missile, Air-to-Air Missile, Air-to-Surface Missile, Sea-to-Sea Missile, Sea-to-Surface Missile, Anti-Tank Missile.
Ballistic missiles, based on maximum range can be classified as:
Short Range Missile (SRBM)
Medium Range Missile (MRBM)
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM)
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)

Cruise Missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial targets that remain in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. These missiles are self-navigating and fly at extremely low altitudes to avoid being caught by radars. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy.
Examples: Brahmos and Nirbhay
Depending upon the speed such missiles are classified as:
1) Subsonic cruise missile [Flies at a speed lesser than that of sound.(0.8 Mach)]
2) Supersonic cruise missile [Exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 2-3)]
3) Hypersonic cruise missile[Travels at a speed of more than 5 Mach.]
1) Subsonic cruise missile [Flies at a speed lesser than that of sound.(0.8 Mach)]
2) Supersonic cruise missile [Exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 2-3)]
3) Hypersonic cruise missile[Travels at a speed of more than 5 Mach.]
* The speed of Mach 1 is equal to the speed of sound.
Complete List of all Indian Missiles with Range, Type and Speed
Missile Name
|
Origin
|
Type
|
Range
|
Speed
|
Air-to-air missiles |
||||
Astra Missile
|
India
|
Air-to-Air Missiles
|
60 – 80 km
|
Mach 4 +
|
K-100
|
Russia & India
|
Medium Range air-to-air missile
|
300–400 km
|
Mach 3.3
|
Surface-To-Air Missiles |
||||
Akash Missile
|
India
|
Medium-range surface-to-air missile
|
30-35km
|
Mach 2.5 to 3.5
|
Barak 8
|
Isreal /India
|
Long Range Surface to Air Missile
|
100 km
|
Mach 2
|
Defence Missile |
||||
Prithvi Air Defence (PAD)
|
India
|
Exo-atmospheric Anti-ballistic missile
|
Altitude- 80km
|
Mach 5+
|
Advanced Air Defence (AAD)
|
India
|
Endoatmospheric Anti-ballistic missile
|
Altitude- 30km
|
Mach 4.5
|
Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV)
|
India
|
Exo-atmospheric Anti-ballistic missile
|
Altitude- 120km
|
|
Cruise Missiles |
||||
Nirbhay
|
India
|
Subsonic cruise missile(Ship, submarine, aircraft and land)
|
1,000 -1500 km
|
Mach 0.8
|
BrahMos
|
Russia & India
|
Supersonic cruise missile(Ship, submarine, aircraft and land)
|
290 km
|
Mach 2.8 to 3 Mach
|
BrahMos II
|
India
|
Hypersonic cruise missile(Ship, submarine, aircraft and land)
|
300km
|
Mach 7
|
Surface-to-surface Missiles |
||||
Agni-I
|
India
|
Medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM)
|
700-1250 km
|
Mach 7.5
|
Agni-II
|
India
|
Intermediate-range ballistic missile(IRBM)
|
2,000–3,000 km
|
Mach 12
|
Agni-III
|
India
|
Intermediate-range ballistic missile(IRBM)
|
3,500 km – 5,000 km
|
5–6 km/s
|
Agni-IV
|
India
|
Intermediate-range ballistic missile(IRBM)
|
3,000 – 4,000 km
|
Mach 7
|
Agni-V
|
India
|
Intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM)
|
5000 – 8000Km
|
Mach 24
|
Prithvi I
|
India
|
Short Range Ballistic Missile(Tactical)
|
150 km
|
|
Prithvi II
|
India
|
Short Range Ballistic Missile(Tactical)
|
350 km
|
|
Dhanush
|
India
|
Short Range Ballistic Missile(Tactical)
|
350 – 600 km
|
|
Prahaar(Pragati)
|
India
|
Short Range Ballistic Missile(Tactical)
|
150 km
|
Mach 2.03
|
Shaurya
|
India
|
Medium-Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM)
|
750 to 1,900 km
|
Mach 7.5
|
Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles |
||||
Sagarika (K-15)
|
India
|
Ballistic Missile
|
700 – 1900Km
|
Mach 7+
|
K-4
|
India
|
Ballistic Missile
|
3,500–5,000 km
|
Mach 7+
|
K-5
|
India
|
Ballistic Missile
|
6,000 km
|
|
Anti-Tank Missile |
||||
Nag
|
India
|
Anti-Tank Guided Missile
|
4km
|
230 m/s
|
Helina(HELIcopter launched NAg)
|
India
|
Anti-Tank Guided Missile
|
7-8km
|
Missiles in India at a Glance
» Akash : Surface to air missile.
» Nag : Anti tank missile.
» Helina : Air launched anti tank missile.
» Amogha missile: Anti tank missile.
» CLGM: Cannon launched anti tank missile.
» DRDO Anti Tank Missile
» Prithvi-I (SS-150) : surface to surface Ballistic Missile.
» Prithvi-II (SS-250) : surface to surface Ballistic Missile.
» Prithvi-III (SS-350) : surface to surface Ballistic Missile.
» Agni-I MRBM : surface to surface medium-range ballistic missile.
» Agni-II MRBM : surface to surface medium-range ballistic missile.
» Agni-III IRBM : ocean to surface intermediate-range ballistic missile.
» Agni-IV IRBM : surface to surface intermediate-range ballistic missile
» Agni-V ICBM : surface to surface intercontinental ballistic missile.
» Agni-VI : Four-stage Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. (under development)
» Dhanush (missile) : Ship launched surface to surface Ballistic Missile.
» K 15 : Submarine launched Ballistic Missile.
» K 4 : Submarine launched Ballistic Missile. (Undergoing trials)
» K 5 : Submarine launched Ballistic Missile. (under development)
» Shaurya : surface to surface hypersonic tactical missile.
» BrahMos : Fastest Supersonic cruise missile in the world.
» BrahMos-A : Air launched Cruise Missile.
» BrahMos-NG : Mini version based on BrahMos (missile). (under development)
» BrahMos-II : Hypersonic missile.(under development)
» Astra BVRAAM : Active radar homing Beyond-visual-range Air to Air Missile.
» DRDO Anti-Radiation Missile : state-of-the-art Air-to-surface anti-radiation missile. (under development)
» Nirbhay : Long Range subsonic cruise missile. (under development)
» Prahaar : Tactical short range Ballistic Missile.
» Pragati (missile)
» Pinaka MkIII : Guides rockets (Pinaka Mk1 & 2 are unguided)
» Barak 8 : Long range surface to air missile.
» Pradyumna Ballistic Missile Interceptor : Ballistic Missile interceptor, surface to air missile.
» Ashwin Ballistic Missile Interceptor : Ballistic Missile interceptor / anti aircraft missile.
» Trishul (missile) : Surface to air missile.
» Prithvi Air Defence : Exo-atmospheric Anti-ballistic missile.
» Advanced Air Defence : Endoatmospheric Anti-ballistic missile.
» Prithvi Defence Vehicle : Anti-ballistic missile.