Defence Ministry seals deal to buy indigenous missiles for IAF, Navy

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 31

To boost indigenous production of military equipment, the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday placed the first order for India-made air-launched missile to be fitted onto fighter jets of the Indian Air Force and Navy.

A contract was signed with public sector giant Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for supply of “Astra” MK-I beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missiles and associated equipment for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 2,971 crore, the MoD said.

The IAF has integrated the “Astra” missile with the Sukhoi-30 MKI jet and is in the process of mating it with the Light Combat aircraft the Tejas. The Navy flies the Russian-origin MiG 29K jet and the missiles are being adapted for the same. Each plane has a separate launch mechanism.

The Astra can hit an aerial target 140 km away, meaning in case of a close combat with enemy — like the one post the Balakot air strikes in February 2019 — the IAF can launch the “Astra”.

Till now, the technology to manufacture missile of this class indigenously was not available and the Astra has been indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) based on the requirements issued by the IAF for such a class of missiles reducing the dependency on foreign sources.

Air-to-air missile with BVR capability provides large stand-off ranges to own fighter aircraft, which can neutralise the adversary aircraft without exposing themselves to adversary air defence measures

“This missile is technologically and economically superior to many such imported missile systems,” the MoD claimed.

The transfer of technology from DRDO to BDL for production of Astra and all associated systems has been completed and production at BDL is in progress.

Bharat Dynamics bags contract for Rs 2,971 cr

• A contract has been signed with Bharat Dynamics Limited for supply of ‘Astra’ MK-I beyond visual range air-to-air missiles for IAF and Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 2,971 crore
• The IAF has integrated the ‘Astra’ missile with the Sukhoi-30 MKI jet. The Astra can hit an aerial target 140 km away

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