Whenever hyper-speculative media hype
originates from certain claims made by an over-zealous corporate house, the
end-result always tantamount to putting the cart before the horse. And this is
exactly what has happened in case of the Indian Army’s requirement of
third-generation, manportable ATGMs. Presently,
the Indian Army is authorised by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to have a total
of 81,206 ATGMs, with each infantry battalion deployed in the
plains being armed with four medium-range (1.8km-range) and four long-range
(4km-range) ATGM launchers (each with six missiles), and those in the mountains
have one of each type along with six missiles for each launcher.
In reality,
however, the Indian Army’s total existing inventory of ATGMs now stands at only
44,000 that includes 10,000 second-generation MBDA-developed and Bharat Dynamics
Ltd-built SACLOS wire-guided Milan-2 ATGMs and 4,600 launchers; 4,100
second-generation MBDL-supplied Milan-2T ATGMs; 15,000 second-generation
4km-range 9M113M Konkurs-M SACLOS wire-guided ATGMs licence-built by BDL, plus
another 10,000 that are now being supplied off-the-shelf by Russia’s JSC Tulsky
Oruzheiny Zavod. Also on order are 443 DRDO-developed third-generation Nag
fire-and-forget ATGMs along with 13 DRDO-developed NAMICA tracked ATGM
launchers.
It was in 2003 that Indian Army HQ had
formulated a General Staff Qualitative Requirement (GSQR) for acquiring the
Milan-2T, armed with a tandem-warhead. The tandem warhead was to be
licence-built by BDL. The GSQR of the in-service Milan-2 had provided for an
essential range as 1,850 metres and a desirable range of 2,000 metres. The GSQR
of 2003 for the Milan-2T had indicated the range as 2,000 metres. The RFP for
procurement of 4,100 Milan-2Ts was issued to BDL in January 2007. The MoD’s
Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) did not find the product offered by BDL
compliant with the GSQR as the range of 2,000 metres offered had only 1,850
metres under wire-guidance phase, while the last 150 metres was left unguided
(along with the first 75 metres after missile launch). The case for procurement
was therefore closed in May 2007. Subsequently, BDL confirmed that the
guidance-range of the Milan-2T would be 2,000 metres. The case was re-opened
and trials of the Milan-2T were conducted in February 2008. Based on the firing
trial results, Indian Army HQ did not recommend its introduction into service
in view of difficulties in engaging moving targets during the last 150 metres.
In addition, the requirement was not met in terms of flight-time and overall
weight. Furthermore, third-generation ATGMs were already available in the
global market by June 2006. Based
on representations from the staff union
of BDL to the then Minister of State for Defence Production & Supplies
(since non-placement of orders for Milan-2Ts would result in redeployment of
BDL’s workforce and already procured materials common to Milan-2/-2T would have
to be junked), it was decided to procure a minimum required quantity of
Milan-2Ts in May 2008 by amending the GSQR in August 2008 for the Milan-2T with
1,850 metres range and with the waiver of in-country firing-trials,
after considering the long lead-times required for procuring third-generation
ATGMs, and the fact that the shelf-life of existing stocks of Milan-2 would
expire by 2013. The revised RFP was issued to BDL in September 2008 as per the
amended GSQR. The MoD concluded a procurement contract with BDL in December
2008 for the supply of 4,100 Milan-2T ATGMs at a cost of Rs.587.02 crore with a
staggered delivery schedule to be completed within 36 months from the effective
date of contract.
The Indian Army had zeroed in on the third-generation
FGM-148 Javelin as far back as 2008 after it had conducted in-country summer
user-evaluations of the RAFAEL of Israel-built Spike-ER ATGM. During these
evaluations, seven out of the 10 missiles fired missed their targets because
their on-board uncooled long-wave infra-red (LWIR) sensors failed to
distinguish their targets from their surroundings (an identical problem had
also beset the Nag ATGM’s uncooled LWIR sensors during user-evaluations). In contrast,
the Javelin uses a cooled mid-wave IR (MWIR) sensor that can passively lock-on
to targets at up to 50% farther range than an uncooled sensor, thus allowing
the firing crew greater and safer standoff distance, and less likely to be
exposed to counter-fire. As far as weight is concerned, the cooling equipment
adds less than 2 lb per weapon. The uncooled sensor is not only less reliable, but
its long-LWIR spectrum is only compatible with a dome made of softer materials
that vulnerable to abrasion in harsh environments (e.g. deserts) and
consequently require replacement more often. The cooled seeker’s MWIR spectrum
allows a durable hardened dome, and it is better than LWIR in discerning
threats in certain geographic locations or environmental conditions. An
uncooled sensor thus brings increased repairs, decreased operational
availability, and dangerous vulnerabilities, while a cooled IIR sensor saves
lives, lessens fratricide, minimises collateral damage, lowers risk, and
protects its firing platforms/crew.
When the then US Deputy Secretary of Defense,
Ashton Carter, arrived in India on September 16, 2013 for a two-day visit, he
came equipped with a proposal aimed at dramatically boosting US-India
military-industrial relations. The proposal called for 1) licence-production of
the FGM-148 Javelin through 97% transfer of manufacturing technology, but withholding
the target recognition algorithms of the MWIR seeker (meaning the seeker’s
focal plane array sub-assembly would have to be imported off-the-shelf from
Raytheon). 2) co-developing with the DRDO’s Research Centre Imaarat (RCI) and its associated Sensors Research
Society (SRS) a fourth-generation version
of the Javelin that will feature a dual-mode seeker, hyperbaric warhead, and a
longer range of up to 4km. This very same offer, under the auspices of the Defence Trade and Technology
Initiative (DTTI), was repeated by the then US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel, who reached India
on August 8, 2014 for a three-day visit. In fact, by early 2015 private company
VEM Technologies had already fabricated a full-scale prototype of the FGM-148
Javelin (see image below) that was displayed at the Aero India 2015 expo.
On February 19, 2015 the Kalyani Group
issued a press-release that announced the formation of a joint-venture company
with Israel’s RAFAEL Advanced Defence Systems (see: http://www.kalyanigroup.com/Final%20Press%20Release%20Kalyani%20Group%20Rafael%20JV.pdf),
while the official website of Kalyani RAFAEL Advanced Systems Pvt Ltd (see: http://krasindia.com/) had this to say: KRAS
is India’s first private sector Missile sub-systems manufacturing entity.
Spread across an area of 24,000 square feet, the KRAS plant in Hardware
Tech-Park (In the close vicinity of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport) in
Hyderabad will enable production of SPIKE ATGM high-end technology systems
within the country. It will be engaged in development of a wide range of
advanced capabilities like Missile Technology, Command Control and Guidance,
Electro-Optics, Remote Weapon Systems, Precision Guided Munitions and System
Engineering for Missile Integration. The facility has been designed to meet the
top security classification by adopting highest level of security clearance
from Indian and Israel Governments.
What was highly perplexing was that the KRAS
JV was openly announcing its ability to produce Spike ATGMs when even the MoD
had not inked any contract for procuring the Spike ATGMs. It is from this juncture
that the ‘desi’ patrakaars’ went on an overdrive to peddle the story about the
Spike ATGM’s procurement. Here are some examples of such rumour-mongering:
One news-report, published on September 1, 2016 (http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/tata-power-to-make-javelin-missile-with-lockheed-martin-jv-116083101441_1.html)
even went to the extent of claiming that TATA Power SED had formed a Javelin
Joint Venture (JJV) with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin for licence-producing the
Javelin ATGMs!
In reality, the DRDO has since 2012 been
co-developing a third-generation MPATGM along with VEM Technologies. The RCI
has since then developed the all-composite
rocket motor casing, MEMS-based redundant micro-navigation system
(RMNS), as well as a new-generation IIR sensor that employs semiconductors
using indium gallium nitride and aluminum gallium nitride alloys for the
RCI-developed 1024-element staring focal plane arrays operating in the
ultra-violet bandwidth that give better solar radiation rejection.
User-evaluations of the definitive MPATGM are expected to commence next year,
with bulk production commencing sometime in 2020. Both VEM Technologies and BDL
will be contracted for mass-producing the MPATGM. As a fall-back measure, in
the event of the RCI-developed MWIR sensor not maturing within the given
deadline (primarily due to the challenges of developing the all-important
target recognition algorithm), then the option of importing the Javelin’s LWIR
sensor sub-assembly for integration with the MPATGM still remains open.
In addition to the MPATGM, the DRDO
along with VEM Technologies is also developing a laser-guided 2.75-inch air-to-surface
rocket (first shown at the Aero India 2017 expo) that will be launchable from
the Rudra, LUH and LCH platforms.
