Indian Navy needs a variety & quantity upgrade in submarines

 Possible Missiles of India's Rocket Force

By: Kartikeya Semwal

We all know how India’s neighbour China has been trying to transgress and illegally occupy Indian land by force using its PLA Army since 2020, first at Depsang & then at Pangong-tso Lake. And since the second half of current year 2021, China has been deploying its Rocket Force against India on its borders. India too has deployed its different types of ballistic and cruise missiles such as Agni and Brahmos as a counter-measure but it doesn’t have a Rocket Force. But this will be a reality soon as India too has started work to raise its own Rocket Force that will have different types of missiles and rocket systems such as Pinaka, MRSAM and XRSAM.

Here’s a list of possible missiles that can be a part of India’s own Rocket Force:-

Surface to Surface Missiles-

Prithvi-2

Prithvi 2 & 3- Prithvi is a type of short range surface to surface missile that has ranges of 350 & 600 kms respectively. 

Agni 3

Agni 1, 2, 3- Agni is a series of missiles that are medium-range ballistic missiles that can travel to distances of 700-1250 km, 1300-2000 km and 3000 km respectively.

Agni 5

Agni 4 & 5- These are Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) that can travel 4000+ and 5000+ kms and can hit any country in different continents at a speed of Mach7 and Mach 24. These high-speed long range missiles can also carry nuclear, chemical and biological warheads; and can flatten any country in case of war. 

Shaurya

Shaurya- This is a recently developed ballistic missile that is canister launched and comes in a pack of 6 on mounted vehicle. It has a range of 750-1900 km and has been developed by DRDO to replace Prithvi 2 & 3 in near future.

Surface to Air Missiles-

Trishul Short Range Air Defense Missile

Trishul- This is a short range surface to air missile that can hit any kind of aerial targets such as enemy fighter jet, attack helicopter and air to air missile upto a range of 9 km. 

Akash Air Defense System

Akash Air Defence System- Earlier Akash used to be a surface to air missile with a range of 50 km but now its 3 variants are being developed keeping Chinese threat in mind. These variants are called Akash 1S that has a range of 18-30 km, Akash Mk-2 that has a range of 35-40 km and Akash NG that will have a range of 50-70 km. Together, all 3 Akash variants will form the Akash Air Defense System that will take care of any kind of aerial threat by our enemy China. 

Barak 8 Air Defense

Barak 8- Last but not the least is the Indo-Israeli venture Barak 8 that can travel upto 100 km and hit the enemy target with high precision and perfect accuracy in any kind of weather conditions and in both- day and night.

Cruise Missiles-

Cruise missiles have an on-board computer that guides them to their target. These are usually used against terrestrial enemy targets and can carry warhead at cruise speed (very high speed) with high accuracy.

Brahmos Missile System

Currently India has Brahmos supersonic cruise missile that has been jointly developed with Russia. It has a range of 290 km and flies with a speed of 2.8 Mach. Its hypersonic version which will be called ‘Brahmos-2’ is being developed and will have a range of 450-600 km and will travel at Mach 7. This too is being jointly developed by DRDO with Russia. 

Nirbhay Missile System

Next missile of this category is Nirbhay. It is a sub-sonic cruise missile that has been developed by India on its own. It has a range of 1000-1500 km and travels at Mach 1. The catch of Nirbhay sub-sonic cruise missile is that it can be developed from multiple types of platforms and can carry conventional as well as nuclear warheads. 

Last in this series come the Anti-Ballistic missiles or Missile Defense System-

Anti-ballistic missile is that kind of missile that comes under surface to air category and is designed to take out or intercept any kind of ballistic or cruise missile fired by the enemy, which in our case is China. We have 3 missile systems in this category while 1 more is being developed. 

Prithvi Air Defense (PAD)

Prithvi Air Defense or PAD- This is a 2 stage solid and liquid fueled high altitude interceptor based on Prithvi missile. Its range is 80 km.

Prithvi Defense Vehicle or PDV- This is a an exo-atmospheric interceptor that is designed to shoot down short and medium range enemy ballistic missiles in their terminal phase itself. 

MRSAM System

MRSAM- This is a medium range surface to air missile defense system that will target multiple medium range enemy missiles with a high precision. MRSAM has been developed to hit multiple enemy fighter jets at a safe distance of 70 km and has been developed jointly with Israel. Its catch is that it will be canister-based and truck mounted that will make it transportable by road easily. 

XRSAM Air Defense

XRSAM- This is going to be India’s best air-defense system as it will target long range missiles of China of Dongfeng series and will destroy them in mid-air in their own territory to ensure ‘0’ damage on Indian soil and ensure 100% safety. This too is under development by DRDO. It is said to have an operational range of 350 km and will supplement S-400 air-defense system. This too shall be canister-based and truck mounted for easy road-transportability.

Together, all these missiles will form an effective and powerful Rocket Force that will ‘beat the crap’ out of China and its so-called dangerous Rocket Force that has long range missiles, cruise and hypersonic missiles.