India boosts drone warfare capability with compact missile

NEW DELHI — India has completed final developmental trials of a new precision guided missile that can be launched from drones to engage both ground and aerial targets.

For many years the country’s drones were used primarily for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, but as their role in modern warfare increases exponentially, India is moving to enhance the combat capabilities of its unmanned platforms.

The government called the precision guided missile, which was developed through a collaboration of government and private companies, a major boost to India’s domestic defense capabilities.

A Defense Ministry statement said that it “successfully completed the final deliverable configuration development trials of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM)-V3 in Air-to-Ground and Air-to-Air modes at a test range near Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.”

It said the Ground Control System used to control the weapon system features “state-of-the-art technologies to automate readiness and launch operations.”

An image posted by the Defense Ministry showed the missile being launched by a multi rotor drone and destroying another drone in mid-air.

Analysts say the new miniaturized precision guided missile represents a significant advancement in India’s domestic drone-launched missile capability. It will allow UAVs to potentially destroy ground targets such as armored vehicles and bunkers, intercept drones, and hit low altitude air targets such as helicopters.

“This capability provides a kind of mobility to your air defense capability and also reduces the cost of air defense against drones,” R.K. Narang, a senior fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis in New Delhi told Defense News. “It is an important milestone. This is the beginning of developing miniaturized weapons for our drone segment.”

The country’s premier research and development agency, the Defense and Research Development Organisation, partnered with state-run firm Bharat Dynamics Limited and private-sector firm Adani Defence Systems and Technologies Limited for the development and production of the drone-launched precision missile.

“The missile has been produced entirely through the Indian defense ecosystem involving a large number of MSMEs (small and medium companies) and other industries. The trials confirmed fully mature domestic supply chain, equipped for immediate serial mass production,” according to a Defense Ministry statement.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh called the successful development trials a “strategic milestone” toward self-reliance in defense.

Development of armed drone capabilities is expected to be one of India’s focus areas as such systems reshape battlefields and as the world’s second largest arms importer pushes to expand domestic production of military hardware.

Analyst Narang says India will need to do more work in the area.

“This new precision guided missile is just the start of developing multiple such capabilities in the times to come because the threat is rising rapidly with the proliferation of military drones,” he said.

New Delhi and Islamabad used unmanned aerial vehicles during a four day conflict they fought last year in May. Five months on, India conducted its biggest drone and counter-drone war drill involving the army, navy and air force in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states.

“There are no more eyes in the sky; there are claws in the sky now,” India’s Air Force Chief, A.P. Singh, said at a seminar earlier this month, underlining the threat from drones.

新德里——印度已完成一种新型精确制导导弹的最终研发试验，该导弹可从无人机上发射，用于打击地面和空中目标。

多年来，印度的无人机主要用于情报、监视和侦察，但随着无人机在现代战争中的作用呈指数级增长，印度正在努力提升其无人平台的作战能力。

印度政府称，这款由政府和私营企业合作研发的精确制导导弹，极大地提升了印度的国内国防能力。

国防部发表声明称，“已在安得拉邦库尔努尔附近的一个试验场成功完成了无人机发射精确制导导弹（ULPGM）-V3在空对地和空对空模式下的最终交付配置开发试验。”

声明称，用于控制该武器系统的地面控制系统采用了“最先进的技术，可实现战备和发射操作的自动化”。

国防部发布的一张图片显示，一枚导弹由一架多旋翼无人机发射，并在空中摧毁了另一架无人机。

分析人士称，这种新型小型化精确制导导弹标志着印度国产无人机发射导弹能力的重大进步。它将使无人机能够摧毁装甲车辆和掩体等地面目标，拦截无人机，并打击直升机等低空空中目标。

“这项能力为你们的防空能力提供了一定的机动性，同时也降低了防空对抗无人机的成本，”新德里马诺哈尔·帕里卡尔国防研究与分析研究所高级研究员RK Narang告诉《防务新闻》。“这是一个重要的里程碑。这标志着我们开始为无人机领域研发小型化武器。”

该国首屈一指的研发机构——国防研究与发展组织，与国有企业巴拉特动力有限公司和私营企业阿达尼国防系统与技术有限公司合作，共同研发和生产无人机发射的精确导弹。

“该导弹完全由印度国防体系自主生产，涉及众多中小微企业和其他行业。试验证实，国内供应链已完全成熟，具备立即进行批量生产的能力。”国防部在一份声明中表示。

印度国防部长拉杰纳特·辛格称此次成功的研发试验是迈向国防自主的“战略里程碑”。

预计武装无人机能力的发展将成为印度的重点领域之一，因为此类系统正在重塑战场，而作为世界第二大武器进口国的印度也在努力扩大国内军事装备的生产。

分析师纳朗表示，印度需要在该领域做出更多努力。

他说：“这种新型精确制导导弹仅仅是未来发展多种此类能力的开始，因为随着军用无人机的扩散，威胁正在迅速增加。”

新德里和伊斯兰堡在去年五月为期四天的冲突中使用了无人机。五个月后，印度在北方邦和中央邦举行了迄今为止规模最大的无人机和反无人机作战演习，陆军、海军和空军均参与其中。

“天空中不再有眼睛，而是利爪，”印度空军司令AP Singh在本月初的一次研讨会上说道，强调了无人机的威胁。