After living for 14 years without helicopter-launched anti-ship cruise missiles, the Indian Navy (IN) will this June re-equip itself with such missiles with the arrival of about 100 Kongsberg HSMs that will arm the 24 Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60R shipborne naval multi-role helicopters that are on order for the IN.
It may be recalled that the IN had MBDA-built Sea Eagle subsonic helicopter-launched anti-ship cruise missiles that were service-inducted back in 1988 and were decommissioned in 2008.
The HSMs are likely to be followed by the DRDO-developed and Bharat Dynamics Ltd-built NASM-SR missiles. The maiden test-firing of the NASM-SR from an IN Sea King Mk.42B was conducted on May 18, 2022. At least nine more test-firings in both single-mode and ripple-fire mode will be required to be conducted before the NASM-SR is cleared for service-entry sometimes in 2025.
R & D work is also underway on developing a 130km-range, high-subsonic NASM-MR variant (usable by both airborne LRMR/ASW platforms and principal surface combatants) that will make use of the IMR seeker now board the BrahMos-1 Extended-Range supersonic multi-role cruise missile.
