Air Force’s LCA to get Astra firepower, not Rafale’s meteor

The Air Force is keen to make the indigenous Astra missile its standard long-range weapon for fighter aircraft and is promoting its integration on board the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) as well as other platforms, top officials have told ET.

The LCA will not bear Meteor — beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) — that is standard on the Rafale fighter jets, with the French side expressing its reluctance to integrate the weapon with an aircraft equipped with an Israeli-origin radar and the Air Force determined to bring down the heavy imports bill by selecting a home-grown option.

“We are not even looking at the French option. We want to promote the indigenous system and have it equipped across all our platforms. The Astra development programme has been satisfactory,” a top official said.

Sources said after the missile is inducted into the Su30MKI fighter jets from which it has been tested, the system would be integrated on other foreign-origin combat aircraft. The performance of the Astra, sources said, is regarded to be better than similar Russian systems currently in service.

User trials for Astra have been completed and the next stage, DRDO officials say, is for the first production order for the missile system. On board the LCA, integration tests are being carried out and the missile is likely to be part of the weapons package for 83 of the Mk1A version that is set to be ordered shortly.

Currently, the missile has a range of over 100 km and has been successfully test-fired against Banshee target aircraft simulating all possible threat scenarios. In the most recent user trials last September, the missile was launched with a warhead against manoeuvring targets that were neutralised, including a direct hit of the target at maximum range.

As reported by ET, DRDO is looking to nearly doubling the range of the missile to make it the most lethal weapon in India’s air-to-air arsenal. “Astra initially had some technological challenges, which have been overcome successfully. With our persistent effort and with active IAF support, all the user evaluation has been completed and Astra is now ready for induction,” DRDO chief G Sateesh Reddy had told ET.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has played a significant role in modifying the aircraft for weapon integration and over 50 public and private industries are involved in building the Astra weapon system.

 economictimes