India Developing Guided Bombs For Fighter Planes

New Delhi, June 3, IRNA -- Indian fighter planes could be equipped with indigenous-developed ˈglide bombsˈ, by the end of next year, which will be guided to their targets for precision attacks. The first-of-its-kind bomb in the country, being developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will boost Indiaˈs strike capabilities as targets can be hit even beyond the range of a fighter aircraft. DRDO is working on developing glide capabilities on the existing bombs of various payloads including 100 kgs, 250 kgs and 500 kgs. “We are developing glide bombs which can be directed towards their intended targets using guidance mechanisms after being dropped from aircraft of the IAF,ˈ outgoing DRDO chief V K Saraswat told PTI in an interview. ˈSuch a capability will allow the IAF pilots to drop the bombs at their intended targets from stand-off distances as the glide capabilities will help in enhancing the range of the bombs,ˈ he said. The DRDO has already carried out two trials of such bombs successfully and plans to hold more trials this year for proving the capabilities of the ammunition. ˈBy the end of the next year, we want to complete all the development trials of the glide bombs before offering it to the Indian Air Force (IAF)ˈ he said. The outgoing DRDO chief said the organization is also in the process of developing an anti-radiation missile, which will multiply the strike capabilities of the armed forces by destroying the enemyˈs advance warning system. Such missiles can be mounted on Sukhoi fighter planes Su-30 MKI. These missile can detect a radar by tracking its electro-magnetic radiation and pulses generated and these would be independent of the radar wavelength and be able to destroy it. The proportional guidance system that homes in on enemy radar emissions has a fixed antenna and seeker head in the missileˈs nose. Listing the successful test-firing of the over 5,000 km range Agni-5 missile as the ˈcrowning gloryˈ of his tenure as DRDO chief, Saraswat said more lethal versions of the missile would be developed. He said the DRDO was working on producing a variant of the missile with Multiple Independently Targeted Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) warheads.This MIRV capability would make the missile capable of carrying multiple warheads to destroy several targets in one go. Terming it as a ˈforce multiplierˈ, he said, ˈI will be able to do force multiplication with this... where I was using four missiles, I may use only one missile.ˈ He said a few more tests of the missile would be done before it is ready for induction into the armed forces./end